To curb the rising unemployment rate in Plateau State, Governor Simon Lalong has advised the Plateau State Employment Council to generate 20,000 jobs before the end of this year.
Lalong gave the advice at the Government House Rayfield Jos yesterday while inaugurating the state employment council.
The 25-member council, which is chaired by the Secretary to the State Government Prof. Danladi Atu is to liaise with the national employment council for any employment opportunity at the national level.
Lalong, who was represented by the Deputy Governor, Prof. Sonny Tyoden, mandated the council to mop up every employment opportunity available in the state so as to close the rising rate of unemployment in the state.
Lalong said: “Unemployment is a major social and economic problem facing Nigeria and, indeed, Plateau State. This has resulted in poverty, hunger, and insecurity, among others. This is why the government at the national and sub-national levels have made the reduction of unemployment a major focus by adopting various measures, policies and programmes towards addressing the menace.
“This is so because unemployment induces crimes and criminality and a general breach of the peace and security in the state.
“For this reason and in line with the National Policy on Employment, the state government has decided that a state employment council be set up to serve as a bridge and coordination platform to guide, streamline and coordinate state efforts towards employment promotion and job creation in the state.”
The 25-member Council has the Chairman Plateau Youth Council as a member.
Also, the Plateau State Commissioner for Agriculture Dr Hosea Finangwai said the state government has put plans in motion to mitigate losses incurred by potato farmers during this year’s cropping season. Finangwai stated this in Jos.
The 2022 potato season recorded losses due to potatoes Blight, a disease caused by a fungus-like organism (Phytophthora infestans) that spreads rapidly through the foliage and tubers of potatoes, causing collapse and decay.
Finangwai said he had also contacted the Executive Director of the National Crop Research Institute (NCRI), through the Agric-Research Council.
He said the NCRI executive director would lead a high-powered delegation of expert breeders, pathologists and tissue culture specialists to visit the farmers and their farmlands.
The commissioner noted that prior to the outbreak of the Blight infestation; plans were already on the ground to boost potato production in the state up to export standards.
Finangwsi said Governor Simon Lalong had secured a facility from African Development Bank to boost potato production, even before the potato blight.
He said the state had been working on ensuring potatoes export since 2016.
Finangwai added that the government had the vision to ensure that the state produced clean potatoes, resistant or tolerant to diseases, including the Blight.
He urged farmers not to lose hope as the government was committed to their course and working to ameliorate losses they suffered during the cropping season.