The Nation Newspaper

Tag: jobs

  • Union lauds private employment agencies for jobs enhancement

    The Human Capital Providers Association of Nigeria (HuCaPAN) has said private employment agencies have enhanced jobs and development of businesses.

    HuCaPAN Presdent Mr Remi Adegboyega said while addressing reporters in Lagos.

    HuCaPAN with 150 companies was established to provide an interface through which government and its relevant authorities can consult and relate with providers of outsourced personnel.

    According to Adegboyega, global economic challenges and the need for greater efficiency in businesses have led to increase in dynamic business models.

    He said employers believed that companies that would be sustained must be lean, efficient and responsive because rising wage bills and skills deficit are huge risks to investment.

    ‘’Many workers choose agency work because of their circumstances and the greater flexibility PEAs provide. For some workers, agencies act as a gateway to securing permanent work.

    ‘’While other workers choose temporary work because it allows them to best balance their work with commitments such as self-development, entrepreneurship interests, sports or farming,’’ Adegboyega said.

    He said the market of private employment agencies have grown significantly as business operators in a bid to face their core competencies have adopted the “do what you do best and outsource the rest” model.

    He, however, said employment agencies should recognise the right of workers to belong to a union and ensure that workers contributed to issues that affect their employment.

    ‘’An employers should ensure that he or she will not stop workers from joining the union. The employer must negotiate regularly with union leaders on how to improve workers condition of service,’’ he said.

    The HuCaPAN chief further said members were encouraged to pay the stipulated minimum wage to any person recruited, and tax and pension deducted must be remitted.

    “Every Nigerian irrespective of  their work should be proud of what they are doing and be treated fairly in their jobs. They should attain the basic rights of dignity at work.

    “It is in doing this that the economic value of each and every one of our teeming population would be shored up,’’ he said.

    HuCaPAN is a body that get owners of business of private employment together to enable them improve the operations and comply with statutory requirement.

  • Jigawa splashes N300m on jobs

    Jigawa splashes N300m on jobs

    To shore up Jigawa State’s economy, Governor Muhammadu Abubakar has released over N300m into job creation, reports AHMED RUFAI

    The vision is clear. To reflate its economy, Jigawa State looks no further than providing jobs and an enabling environment for workers. Small-scale entrepreneurs are getting much attention across the 27 local government areas of the state. Local miners are encouraged, as are traders and industrialists. There is impetus on skill acquisition. To leave no one in doubt as to the seriousness of the Abubakar administration in lifting the economy, trade unions are also getting the stimulus.

    Virtually every part of the state is aware that something positive and different is happening in Jigawa. On the day the governor made known the various job packages at the Yakubu Gowon NYSC orientation camp, thousands of residents turned up at the colourful ceremony. They were not the only ones present; traditional rulers and political leaders were also there. About 1,574 job categories were available valued at over N300m. Job tools were provided for small-scale entrepreneurs.

    The Abubakar administration wants to achieve a number of things with his jobs plan. The state economy will buoy up, people will be employed and as they are productively engaged, crime will be contained. The government sees it as a win-win plan.

    The state government has a plan to use agriculture and its value-added chain to build its economy, with equal priority on mining, commerce and industries especially through supporting small and medium enterprises with soft loans and providing the enabling environment for business to flourish.

    The distribution ceremony was the talk of the town.

    It was not the first time the government would empower the people. In the last two years over 50,000 persons have benefited from different programmes. The latest one, though, is unique in style and approach.

    Speaking at the event, Governor Abubakar said, “Since the inception of the present administration various economic empowerment initiatives have been established aimed at reducing the high rate of unemployment among the youth where over 51,000 people, mostly women and youths, were empowered in the last two years.”

    Speaking further, Alhaji Abubakar said, “I wish to inform you that our programme targets both youths and women. Today, ýby God’s grace, we are empowering about 1,574 youths on various acquisitions skills and related equipment worth N300 million”.

    He said, “Over eighty percent of the people of this state are small-scale farmers. That is part of the government’s reason for placing more priority on the agricultural sector as the greatest potentials for economic transformation.”

    Governor Abubakar also said that the state’s job plan is in line with the federal government’s drive to diversify from the oil sector to agriculture, mining and other cash sources that will discourage importation and encourage export.

    He said, “The new economic empowerment initiative includes the cluster farming system, micro-credit, soft loans, and skill acquisition equipment of different phases,” adding that buses were also provided for the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW).

    Abubakar said, “Now we are giving 100 rice and wheat threshers of 200kg per hour, 100 rice mills of 200kg to 700kg per hour in three sizes and 100 single row multi-purpose planters, and 100 double row multipurpose planters, 300 hand-held rice/wheat harvesters and 574 manual sprayers two per ward across 287 wards distributed to beneficiaries.”

    Others include Seed Capital Drugs to 287 PCN Certified Youths empowered with patent vendor medicine stores (1person per ward, 27 commercial buses to members of National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), 4 25 tons rice mill to large-scale agriculturalists, 40 rice dealers with Seed Capital of N10 million, 20 paddy dealers with N200, 000:00 each and 20 rice dealers with N300, 000.00 each.

    Badaru called on the beneficiaries to use the equipment judiciously and make prompt repayment ý so that other programmes can be rolled out to ensure programme sustainability.

    Many of the public commentators and observers are of the opinion that looking at the equipment and other packages distributed during the ceremony, certainly the programme looks to succeed, and is likely to produce multiple jobs that could positively impact the social and economic development of the state.

    While some noted that the programme is well-conceived, they also stressed that its success will depend largely on mechanisms put in place to constantly monitor and review beneficiaries’ performance. This process of monitoring will spot areas needing adjustments and further engagement.

    In his keynote address, the National President of the ýNational Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), Dr. Kasim Ibrahim Batayya called on other state governors in the federation to emulate Governor Abubakar’s jobs plan, “especially loans to transporters”.

    Batayya also appealed to the federal government to come up with a similar programme “but the federal government should be seeking to improve the transportation sector and enhance the economy and citizens’ well-being”.

  • Jigawa splashes N300m on jobs

    Jigawa splashes N300m on jobs

    To shore up Jigawa State’s economy, Governor Muhammadu Abubakar has released over N300m into job creation, reports AHMED RUFAI

    The vision is clear. To reflate its economy, Jigawa State looks no further than providing jobs and an enabling environment for workers. Small-scale entrepreneurs are getting much attention across the 27 local government areas of the state. Local miners are encouraged, as are traders and industrialists. There is impetus on skill acquisition. To leave no one in doubt as to the seriousness of the Abubakar administration in lifting the economy, trade unions are also getting the stimulus.

    Virtually every part of the state is aware that something positive and different is happening in Jigawa. On the day the governor made known the various job packages at the Yakubu Gowon NYSC orientation camp, thousands of residents turned up at the colourful ceremony. They were not the only ones present; traditional rulers and political leaders were also there. About 1,574 job categories were available valued at over N300m. Job tools were provided for small-scale entrepreneurs.

    The Abubakar administration wants to achieve a number of things with his jobs plan. The state economy will buoy up, people will be employed and as they are productively engaged, crime will be contained. The government sees it as a win-win plan.

    The state government has a plan to use agriculture and its value-added chain to build its economy, with equal priority on mining, commerce and industries especially through supporting small and medium enterprises with soft loans and providing the enabling environment for business to flourish.

    The distribution ceremony was the talk of the town.

    It was not the first time the government would empower the people. In the last two years over 50,000 persons have benefited from different programmes. The latest one, though, is unique in style and approach.

    Speaking at the event, Governor Abubakar said, “Since the inception of the present administration various economic empowerment initiatives have been established aimed at reducing the high rate of unemployment among the youth where over 51,000 people, mostly women and youths, were empowered in the last two years.”

    Speaking further, Alhaji Abubakar said, “I wish to inform you that our programme targets both youths and women. Today, ýby God’s grace, we are empowering about 1,574 youths on various acquisitions skills and related equipment worth N300 million”.

    He said, “Over eighty percent of the people of this state are small-scale farmers. That is part of the government’s reason for placing more priority on the agricultural sector as the greatest potentials for economic transformation.”

    Governor Abubakar also said that the state’s job plan is in line with the federal government’s drive to diversify from the oil sector to agriculture, mining and other cash sources that will discourage importation and encourage export.

    He said, “The new economic empowerment initiative includes the cluster farming system, micro-credit, soft loans, and skill acquisition equipment of different phases,” adding that buses were also provided for the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW).

    Abubakar said, “Now we are giving 100 rice and wheat threshers of 200kg per hour, 100 rice mills of 200kg to 700kg per hour in three sizes and 100 single row multi-purpose planters, and 100 double row multipurpose planters, 300 hand-held rice/wheat harvesters and 574 manual sprayers two per ward across 287 wards distributed to beneficiaries.”

    Others include Seed Capital Drugs to 287 PCN Certified Youths empowered with patent vendor medicine stores (1person per ward, 27 commercial buses to members of National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), 4 25 tons rice mill to large-scale agriculturalists, 40 rice dealers with Seed Capital of N10 million, 20 paddy dealers with N200, 000:00 each and 20 rice dealers with N300, 000.00 each.

    Badaru called on the beneficiaries to use the equipment judiciously and make prompt repayment ý so that other programmes can be rolled out to ensure programme sustainability.

    Many of the public commentators and observers are of the opinion that looking at the equipment and other packages distributed during the ceremony, certainly the programme looks to succeed, and is likely to produce multiple jobs that could positively impact the social and economic development of the state.

    While some noted that the programme is well-conceived, they also stressed that its success will depend largely on mechanisms put in place to constantly monitor and review beneficiaries’ performance. This process of monitoring will spot areas needing adjustments and further engagement.

    In his keynote address, the National President of the ýNational Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), Dr. Kasim Ibrahim Batayya called on other state governors in the federation to emulate Governor Abubakar’s jobs plan, “especially loans to transporters”.

    Batayya also appealed to the federal government to come up with a similar programme “but the federal government should be seeking to improve the transportation sector and enhance the economy and citizens’ well-being”.

  • FMBN chief: NHF ‘ll provide homes, jobs for Nigerians

    The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), Alhaji Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, has urged state governments to key into the National Housing Fund (NHF) to provide homes for Nigerians.

    The FMBN chief said the housing fund would also create jobs for Nigerians and strengthen the economy at the grassroots.

    Dangiwa spoke at the inauguration of FMBN’s office in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.

    He said the building was built with N132.6 million.

    The complex was inaugurated by Governor Ayo Fayose, who was represented by his deputy, Dr. Kolapo Olusola.

    Dangiwa urged state governments to prioritise salary payment to enable FMBN shore up NHF to build low cost housing units for workers.

    Fayose said Ekiti was lucky to have the edifice on its soil, adding that his administration had begun the 2.5 per cent deductions from the basic salaries of workers who had been integrated into the NHF.

     

  • Why youths should put skills over jobs

    SIR: World Youth Skills Day brings youths a time to check efforts they have made towards personal capacity development. As it’s seen in the world today, youths are one of the most under-represented subsets of the global population when it comes to decision making. This is not due to under-population of youths but a jaundiced, stigmatized perception of youths by the ruling class all around the world.

    Although the terms “youth” and “young people” are conceived differently by people in different parts of the world, they most commonly refer to adolescents and young adults between the ages of 10 and 24. Other sources extend this age bracket to include people of ages 29 or 35 but one factor is common to all; youth is the period (transition stage) between childhood and adulthood. Demographically, youths have a global population of 1.1 billion claims a whopping 18 percent of the entire world’s population; 60 percent of which live in Asia; 15 percent, in Africa; 10 percent, in Latin America and the Caribbean; and the remaining 15 percent, in developed countries and regions.

    These facts echo the unparalleled significance of youth in our world today and reiterate their importance in planning for future generation.

    Unfortunately, rather than being major stakeholders in devising global developmental programmes, youths themselves are the subject of global challenges with many facing possibilities of early marriage, early childbearing, incomplete education and the threat of HIV and AIDS.

    To understand the severity, these statistics from United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs would paint a better picture. Approximately 238 million youth live in extreme poverty—that is, they live on less than $1 a day; 462 million youth survive on less than $2 a day. About 255 million young people live in the 19 countries with the largest poverty gaps; 15 of these 19 countries are in sub-Saharan Africa. Experts estimate that, in the 49 countries classified as having a high proportion of undernourished people, 110 million youth live in hunger. About 133 million youth in the world are illiterate. Youth comprise 41 percent of the world’s unemployed people.

    These figures shouldn’t be what describe the supposed most vibrant age bracket of the world!

    What can be done to address this?  The exact reason why #WorldYouthSkillsDay is necessary to chart a way forward.

    Poverty is a state of penury and lack. The only antidote to it is earning through just means. The perception of “go-to-school, get-a-job-after” has led many youths to believe skill acquisition is not for them which leaves the world with a teeming population of “clueless youths”. It is high time youths acquired skills and take up vocations they are passionate about and lifts them well beyond the poverty and marginalization indices.

     

    • Alli Sheriffdeen Abiola,

    Ibadan.

  • NACCIMA to create jobs with youth forum

    The Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) said it will inaugurate its Youth Forum to create jobs for youths.

    Its President, Iyalode Alaba Lawson, who made this known at the inaugural meeting of the Youth Forum in Lagos, said through the introduction of the Forum, NACCIMA will advocate for necessary reforms that will revolutionise the socio-economic environment and encourage job creation.

    A statement signed by NACCIMA Director-General, Emmanuel Cobham, said the critical role of youths in supporting entrepreneurship and development cannot be ignored. She said the initiative was in line with the Chamber’s mission to ensure an enabling business environment through policy advocacy.

    She also said NACCIMA aimed at promoting the growth and competitiveness of businesses through proper and prompt information dissemination, using modern technology comparable to the best universal standard of chambers of commerce and industry anywhere in the world.

    The Youth Forum, she said, will focus on training and developing young entrepreneurs to meet the demand in identified gaps in the existing value chains, while equipping and supporting them to overcome the challenges faced by entrepreneurs such as access to finance, lack of business knowledge, and lack of market access, among others.

  • NPA, INTELS row puts 20,000 jobs at risk

    • Osinbajo urged to intervene

    The Nigerian Importers Integrity Association (NIIA) has warned that no fewer than 20,000 jobs in the Niger Delta region could be lost as a result of the face-off between Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and oil and gas logistics giant INTELS Nigeria Limited.

    The group has appealed to Acting President Prof Yemi Osinbajo to intervene so as to avert the loss of jobs and its socio-economic backlashes.

    Its President, Mr. Godwin Onyekazi said it was unfortunate that a simple business disagreement, which could have been amicably resolved “at the coffee table” was allowed to degenerate to the point of threatening thousands of jobs.

    “INTELS is a major operator in oil and gas, maritime and real estate industries. It is one of the largest employers of labour in the country and in the Niger Delta region. It should therefore concern any well-meaning Nigerian that NPA is unable to amicably resolve and manage its differences with such organisation.

    “We have also read that INTELS is being persecuted because of its perceived links to a top politician in the country. This political dimension to the entire saga makes the intervention of Acting President Osinbajo imperative.

    “We do not think that companies operating in the country should be subjected to political persecution especially at this time when the Federal Government is pushing hard for peace to reign in the Niger Delta region,” Onyekazi said.

    He said the competition for oil and gas logistics is international and the loss of business by INTELS is the loss of business by Nigeria.

    “It is an exercise in delusion to think that there is any other facility in-country that can provide the type of services INTELS is providing to the oil and gas sector. The oil and gas majors will simply move to Angola, Sao Tome and Principe or South Africa to enjoy the kind of services they enjoy at INTELS if it is no longer in position to provide such service.

    “The implication of this is huge revenue loss to the country and loss of jobs in the Niger Delta region,” he said.

    The NIIA chief also called on the Federal Government to provide palliative measures to cushion the effect of Ijora-Wharf road closure for one year on port users.

    While commending the government for deeming it fit to repair the road, which he said has been abandoned for several years, he said the same attention should be given to the Port Harcourt Port and Onne Port access roads.

    Justice A. R. Mohammed of the Federal High Court, Abuja, had last month issued an interim order directing the NPA and four others to maintain the status quo in a suit filed by INTELS Nigeria Limited on the de-categorisation of terminals at the nation’s seaports.

    INTELS, which filed the suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/417/2017 at the Federal High Court Abuja, is asking the court to, among other reliefs, issue an order stopping the NPA and other defendants from implementing the proposed policy review.

  • ‘90% of hospitality jobs casualised’

    The National Union of Hotels Personal Services Workers (NUHPSW) has raised the alarm that nine out of every 10 workers in the country’s hospitality sector are either casuals or contract staff.

    Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba,  expressed concern over unfair labour practices in the sector, adding that most hotels and hospitality service providers have denied their members the right to unionise.

    He decried the massive loss of jobs in the sector, adding that NLC will intervene and ensure that workers’ rights were not abused. He said: “Employers are becoming more aggressive due to the economic challenges. We are going through a lot of bad times with our employers.”

    Wabba said outsourcing and privatisation were evils adopted by employers to exploit their workers. He called for more proactive measures to stem the practice.

    He said when jobs were outsourced, sometimes the wages are so ridiculous and far below the national minimum wage, adding that the union had written to the Ministry of Labour and Employment, complaining about the precarious working conditions in some hotels and have concluded plans to picket some of the defaulting hotels.

    He urged the Federal Government to involve the union in its diversification policy.

    He said: “Our movement can prosper in unity if we keep the tradition of unity. We are not unmindful of all the challenges that our workers are going through, such as issues of unpaid salaries and allowances. We are more determined than ever to address this in a manner that will guarantee better life to our members nationwide.”

  • Expert advises govt to create 3m jobs yearly

    An economist, Dr Aminu Usman, has advised the Federal Government to create at least three million jobs yearly to address the high unemployment rate in the country.

    Usman, a lecturer at the Department of Economics, Kaduna State University, gave this advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

    He said the Federal Government initially promised to create three million jobs every year but in the last two years it had only generated less than a million jobs.

    The don said the unemployment and underemployment reports for the last quarter of last year still showed the negative effects of the  recession on the citizens.

    The latest unemployment reports released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), showed that the country’s unemployment rate rose from 13.9 per cent in the third quarter to 14.2 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year.

    Usman, however, argued that a number of factors must have contributed to the reports.

    He said that one of the contributing factors was the unfriendly government policies towards managing the economy.

    “When the recession began to hit hard on the state government, it resorted to increasing taxes and imposing all kinds of charges on the citizens.

    “This is against all known principles of managing recession, which requires lowering and or eliminating taxes to boost consumption.

    “One of the first casualties of the recession is employment because  lower consumption rate, factory closure and job layoffs are the hallmarks of any economy in a recession,’’ he said.

  • Made-in-Nigeria goods’ll boost SMEs, create jobs

    The Federal Government’s strong push to encourage Nigerians to support locally- made goods and services will help encourage entrepreneurship at the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) segment.

    This could spur diversification of the economy, create local jobs, and reduce unemployment.

    The Regional Director for Sage in West Africa, Mr. Magnus Nmonwu, made this known on the sideline of the Africa Day celebration with the theme, “Building a better Africa and a better world.”

    Sage is the market and technology leader for integrated accounting, payroll, and payment systems, supporting the ambition of entrepreneurs and business builders.

    Nmonwu said: “Small businesses and start-ups are the engines that will power Nigeria’s growth into the future.

    “The sooner we start supporting our proudly Nigerian suppliers and service providers, the better for us. With our support, they can create wealth and jobs for the country, and many of them could grow into globally competitive exporters.”

    Nmonwu said the Federal Government should be praised for putting the spotlight on local manufacturers through initiatives such as the Made-in-Nigeria Dress Days and an Executive Order compelling state agencies to direct at least 40 per cent of procurement to Made-in-Nigeria goods and services.

    He stressed that local service providers and manufacturers could play an important role in the revival of Nigeria’s economy.

    “We welcome the effort to encourage industrialisation and diversify the economy from commodities into new areas. Strong local demand is the foundation of a manufacturing sector that can grow into an export industry,” Nmonwu said.

    According to him, government was putting its money where its mouth is with its Executive Order and giving the public a good example to follow.

    The Sage Regional Director, however, said there was scope for the public sector to do more to encourage the growth of SMEs.

    Such encouragement, he said, includes tax incentives for local producers, support in accessing finance, and facilitating mentoring and skills development programmes between small business and bigger companies.

    “The government should encourage small businesses to adopt business software so that they can improve regulatory compliance and financial controls. This could also help in tracking the performance of those that benefit from state loans and incentives, and hold them accountable,” Nmonwu said.