The Nation Newspaper

Tag: unemployment

  • ‘Solid minerals panacea to unemployment’

    Kwara State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed has said that the solid minerals sector accounts for about 0.3 percent of Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP).

    He added that the underdevelopment of the domestic mining industry is responsible for the importation of commodities that can be produced locally into the country.

    Governor Ahmed said this in Ilorin, the state capital at a workshop organized by the Nigerian Mining and Geosciences Society (NMGS), Ilorin chapter.

    The theme of the workshop is “Unlocking the investment opportunities in Kwara state through solid minerals development.”

    Represented by his senior special assistant of Solid Minerals, Alhaji Shehu Abdulrahman hailed the society for sensitizing the public on the need to fully develop the mineral resources in Nigeria.

    Said Governor Ahmed: “There is a profound optimism that the solid mineral sector can serve as a major key driver in the quest for sustained economic growth and development in Nigeria. This optimism is based on the fact that there are about 40 different kinds of commercially viable solid minerals buried in Nigerian soil awaiting exploitation.”

    Earlier, NMGS President, Prof Silas Dada revealed that the sector has the potential of tackling high unemployment rate in the country.

    Prof Dada added that: “The sector has the potential of tackling unemployment rate in the country. We are therefore urging the Federal Government to tap into it. It has the potential of not only employ but also to upgrade the finances of every family. It is a private sector driven one, government is there as facilitator and to put in place laws and regulation for the operation.

    “The advantage of solid minerals of oil and gas is that whereas oil and gas employs highly technical people, the solid minerals sector has the advantage of employing large number of people than the oil sector; yes it has some times to take but it is a sector that can take care of very many families. In terms of employment, oil and gas is much more advantageous and in terms of the cost.

    “A little solid mineral for example, will give you more money that oil and gas. In the area of industrial minerals, like iron ore, caoline, marbles, are the ones industrialized nations use for technological development. All these ones are readily available here. It is just that our people are not resilient enough to do what is needful.”

    Ilorin chair of NMGS, Prof Olusola Ojo said that the future of extractive industry and in particular solid mineral sector “is dependent of quality data gathering, cutting edge management of the data and real time right policies.”

    He added that “these can be only be achieved through capacity building, continuous training of young practitioners, experience sharing and knowledge driven government policies.”

  • Bridging the skills gap

    ONE of Nigeria’s most persistent paradoxes is the scarcity of technicians and artisans even as the country struggles with unemployment rates of 18.8 per cent, with 33.1 per cent of its youth jobless.

    An assessment of the country’s skills gap conducted in April by the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) and the United Nations Industrial Organisation (UNIDO) found that Nigeria lacked no less than 925 trade skills, resulting in unfilled vacancies in major sectors of the economy.

    Vacancies in the housing sector stood at 19.7 per cent. It was 11.9 per cent in the auto industry, 10.3 per cent in textiles, and 10.1 per cent in steel. The service sector had a vacancy rate of 8.9 per cent, while the leather goods sub-sector had 3.3 per cent.

    Jobs in these sectors cannot be filled because prospective employees lacked technical skills (15.7 per cent), basic information technology skills (11.8 per cent), and advanced IT skills (9.2 per cent). The absence of requisite soft skills accounted for between 9.2 per cent and 7.5 per cent of vacancies.

    These grim statistics confirm the long-held suspicion that Nigeria’s emphasis on paper qualifications rather than focused training and apprenticeship schemes has been detrimental to economic growth and social cohesion. In a country where every secondary school leaver aspires to go to university, it cannot be a surprise that there is a dearth of the craftsmen, artisans and technicians that are vital to keeping a modern economy running.

    Successive state and federal governments have neglected vocational training and allowed unregulated apprenticeships to become dominant. Established certification systems like City and Guilds have diminished in importance in comparison to the West African Senior School Certificate (WASSCE), the National Examinations Council (NECO) and the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

    The social esteem in which non-university graduates are held is relatively low, regardless of their earnings. Automotive mechanics, in particular, are almost universally disparaged, in spite of the critical importance of the services they render. Electricians, masons and carpenters suffer similar indignities, even though their skills are in perpetual demand.

    The result is that Nigeria has become a country where talented craftsmen, artisans and technicians are virtually worth their weight in gold, such is the high demand for their services. There are very few Nigerians who have not endured the depredations of incompetent artisans, and thus tend to value effective ones very highly. But such is the paucity of skilled workers that construction and other companies are compelled to obtain them from neighbouring West African countries at great expense.

    The consequences are palpable: the nation’s streets are full of abandoned vehicles that have become unserviceable; decrepit roads, gutters, pavements and buildings testify to the enthronement of mediocrity and incompetence; citizens continue to suffer injury and even death because the electricians, mechanics, plumbers and welders they relied upon simply did not know what they were doing.

    To further worsen an already-bad situation, the shortfall in technical and vocational workers has prevented the country’s economy from attaining its full potential. Nigeria’s notoriously poor maintenance culture is in part due to the absence of well-trained technicians who would ensure that power plants, water works and other infrastructure are performing at optimal levels. The small-scale enterprises that are vital to increased employment depend heavily on artisans and technicians. The innovations and research breakthroughs developed in the country’s universities are often stymied by the lack of a critical mass of technicians able to put them into effect.

    The most deleterious effect of the chronic skills shortage is its impact upon unemployment. As more young citizens pour into the labour market in search of jobs, their inability to find work has resulted in increased crime rates, especially in advance-fee fraud, armed robbery, kidnapping and human trafficking. Sustained periods of enforced idleness have facilitated drug abuse and the involvement of youths in political thuggery and terrorism.

    No nation prospers without mid-level technical and vocational manpower, as it is the critical link between the technocrats and the implementation of policy. Vocational education must be given greater importance in Nigeria’s educational system, particularly at the primary and secondary school levels. More vocational and technical institutes must be built, so that viable options exist for those unable to get into tertiary institutions. There should be better monitoring of the nation’s skills needs and increased encouragement for citizens willing to be re-trained for new professions.

  • Unemployment led me to unskilled labour, says OOU Computer Science graduate

    FOR ‘Keji Ademuwagun, a Computer Science graduate from the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago-Iwoye, Ogun, years of roaming the streets in search of job, which was not forthcoming compelled him to take up an otherwise ‘demeaning’ job. But thankfully, he has since made good, in a manner of speaking, with the so-called menial job reserved for no-do-wells.

    Today, the Owoh-born indigene from Ondo State sits atop as a building engineer and Chief Operating Officer, Skyleen Nigeria Limited, a company with expertise in excavation and road construction.

    Speaking in an interview with The Nation, the young man who left the university in 2010 had to wait for almost three years without any regular job opted to go into road construction with the help of a friend him as a helping hand.

    Ademuwagun who is in his mid 30s and who has been involved in this trade in the past eight years cut his teeth with a Nigerian company called Livingspring Construction Company, where he worked before establishing his company which he runs in partnership with his father.

    “After waiting for three years without getting any paid employment, the only option open to me was to just go into any available job regardless of my certificate,” he recalled.

    Thankfully, he has no regret for taking that decision.

    Unlike some of his contemporaries who are have been in and out of jobs, he is now a self-employed and even have a over six people in his employ.

    “When I began as a labourer helping to dig and excavate in preparation for road construction, I wasn’t really sure I was going to make a career out of this whole thing. But looking back now, I can only heave a sigh of relief.”

    “As much as I wish I could have been working as a Computer Scientist which remains my area of core competence, I don’t have any regret not practicing what I learnt in school.”

    According to him, “There are many youth these days that are not gainfully employed but eke a living by doing jobs otherwise beneath their status as graduates.”

    Ademuwagun is not alone.

    Echoing similar sentiments procurement specialist, Lagos Eko World Bank Project, Kayode Adeleye has called on Nigerians to develop individual survival strategies to cushion the effects of global economic recession plaguing nations, including Nigeria.

    Adeleye cautioned the people against succumbing to fear and anxiety, instead, to take measured risks to help assure their future and that of their children.

    He said: “For many, the global recession is a time of anxiety, challenges… The question is: how will we come out? Will we have made the most of our opportunities? In challenging times, we need to balance risk against opportunity, although it is not always easy. We often forget to look for opportunities in tough times because fear makes us focus on risk and danger. But it is in uncertain times that we can find the greatest opportunities, because we get shocked out of our safe pod and are then able to re-think our lives.”

     

  • Nigeria’s intractable unemployment crisis

    Taking NBS to the cleaners

    The NBS report on the unemployment situation in the country has always attracted scathing remarks from insiders who are more discerning.

    One of those who have faulted the NBS is the former Cross River State governor, Donald Duke. Duke who raised his voice above the din, faulted recent figures released by the NBS on Nigeria’s unemployment and inflation rates insisting they can’t be trusted.

    He described figures as not only unrealistic but unreliable, as they are not in tandem with the realities in the country.

    Addressing a large crowd of mainly students, at the 2018 Dinner of the Law Students Association (LAWSA), University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus (UNEC), in Enugu, recently, the former governor who used the opportunity to unveil his presidential aspiration in next year’s general elections also raised the alarm that Nigeria was in great danger and needed a leader imbued with demonstrable strategies to steer the ship and rescue it from sinking.

    Dwelling on the topic, “Nigeria in Clear and Present Danger”, he said the nation ran a rent economy; a dysfunctional system designed to create jobs and opportunities in foreign countries.

    The former governor emphasised that government adjudged its ability to manage the economy on the basis of how low it can keep the exchange rate stable, which was attractive to their wealthy acolytes, rather than how many jobs were created in the real sectors of the economy.

    “Comically, the NBS states the national unemployment rate at 14.2 per cent. This is comical because even the uninformed knows that perhaps seven out of 10 folks you meet are either unemployed or underemployed. Would the NBS claim the hawker on the street is employed? These are the sort of statistics we bandy around that make us look delusional. Another is Nigeria’s inflation rate.

    The same bureau states that our national inflation rate is at 15.25 per cent, which is considered too high. In other words, there is too much money in circulation. My question is, where is this money, because most folks I know don’t have a dime, while a very few have too much,” Duke stated.

    According to him, the wealthier people get, the less the consumer goods purchase. Rather, they indulge in luxury goods that are usually imported and of no multiplier effect or impact on the economy.

    He added: “If the amounts of money in circulation were properly distributed and more people were income earning, there would certainly be a deflation and desperate need to reflate the economy. And to my mind, inflation in the context of Nigeria is a fancy word for government’s failure or inability to properly distribute wealth.”

    Regardless, Duke posited that to remedy the disaster, which he said the country was walking into with eyes open, there was need to design an economy with a growth rate in the real sectors of about 15 per cent annually, consecutively for 10 years to bring it to terms with the projected population, need and place in the comity of nations.

    ‘Unemployment crisis worse than NBS new statistics’

    While reacting to previous statistics detailing the unemployment situation in the country, Prof. Akpan Ekpo, a professor of economics and the current Director General, West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM), noted matter-of-factly that the NBS has been calculating employment/unemployment statistics to guide policy over the years.

    In a document obtained by The Nation, the professor who fell short of dismissing the NBS report said it failed in certain parameters.

    “While one would agree to some extent that sentiments ought to be set aside but the issues of ideology, science and international best practices must be challenged in the interest of knowledge in general and the Nigerian economy in particular. In measuring unemployment, countries have adopted the concept to their peculiarities. For example, the International Labour  Organisation (ILO) considers that a person who works for an hour a week is employed and often adduces reasons to support its position.

    “The same organisation also calculates the rate of vulnerable unemployment.  The USA Labour Agency assumes that if you register as unemployed and did not show up after a week, you must be employed. The same country considers the frequency, duration and incidence of unemployment in measuring the overall unemployment rate in the country. The USA economy also pays unemployment compensation to workers who lost their jobs among other welfare programmes. For the most part, the outcome of administered surveys in any economy depends on the coverage, the content (questions asked) in the questionnaire is crucial.  In the Nigerian case, the number of Enumeration Areas is relevant.”

    Specifically, he said, the NBS states that the working age goes from 15-65 years. But he deadpan, “One would ask why stop at 65?  Why not 60 or 70? How many Enumeration Areas are covered by the NBS? About 28, is that adequate? How is rural employment/unemployment captured? Nonetheless, whatever the assumptions, one should be guided by economic theory and principle. Economics may be an inexact science but it uses scientific method. The other social sciences do the same. For example, in analysing the population structure within the context of the labour force, one may need a demographer, among other experts. In the epistemology of knowledge, the distinction between the natural sciences and social sciences is a false distinction. Every scientist/science deals with matter in motion.”

    “It is interesting to note that certain laws in economics were based on casual observation.  Hence, one would have expected that the wide variation of the unemployment rates between the old and the new methodology as well as the concern of all Nigerians would have alerted the experts in the NBS to re-examine their data, coverage, sampling techniques, among other variables. Not all variables observed in statistical sampling are based on objectivity. The experience of the policy-maker and the reality on ground are also crucial.  In addition, there are no unemployment benefits in the Nigerian economy. There are tendencies and different schools of thought in economics.”

    Waxing philosophical, he said, “The matter of full employment,  is and has always been ideological in terms of conceptualisation, formulation and implementation. Within a market based economy, there exist debates as to whether full employment should be an objective as well as what should be the role of government during high rates of unemployment. The debate becomes intense if the economy is in a recession or a depression.

    “It is interesting to note that even in Nigeria, economists have different tendencies. Their ideas are not homogenous despite the broad and technical training. The tendencies may not be perceived to be sharp because of the underdevelopment of the economy and the economics profession itself in the country.

    “Regarding international best practices, the unemployment rates from the ILO suggest that the Nigerian economy has been at (average of 4.2 per cent) full-employment in the last five years. No active observer of the Nigerian economy would take those ILO figures seriously. Who determines the so-called International best practices?

    “In the same vein, the NBS ‘new’ unemployment rates indicate that unemployment is not a serious challenge in the economy hence no need for urgent government policy to tackle unemployment.  Is that really the case? One is not alluding that the NBS cannot fine-tune any of its methodologies including that of employment/unemployment.

    “The worry is that not too long-ago, the NBS informed Nigerians that the incidence of poverty stood at almost 70 per cent in 2012 and projected future increase. The government challenged the figure of the NBS and invited the World Bank to calculate the incidence of poverty for the country.

    “The Bank arrived at a rate of 33 per cent indicating that the poverty incidence decline sharply over the years. What the World Bank should have done was to use the formula and data of the NBS and see whether the result would be different.  It is hoped that the rates of unemployment has not suffered the same panel-beating like the incidence of poverty measure. The NBS needs proper funding by government so that labour survey coverage would be extensive while the questionnaire design, testing and execution would be rigorous reflecting the Nigerian reality.

    “Furthermore, State governments should also make efforts in computing employment/unemployment statistics in their jurisdictions. Notwithstanding the low unemployment rates published by the NBS, the new administration should see job creation (not seasonal employment) as a priority. The reserved army of the unemployed in the economy is too large.”

    While noting that unemployment remains a ticking time-bomb and is the nation’s collective interest not to allow it to explode, he said, most governments in Europe and North America, Prof Ekpo emphasised, “Enacted laws mandating their governments to ensure that full employment was among the macroeconomic objectives of the State.  Hence, the employment/unemployment matter should not be taken lightly. If a high per cent of the labour force is unemployed then that economy cannot be performing satisfactorily even if such an economy is registering positive growth rates.”

    Thinking outside the box

    In the view of Prof. Ajike Osanyin, Founder, Early Childhood Association of Nigeria (ECAN), a literate person should be knowledgeable in school work as well as acquire skill that is beneficial to him and the society.

    She refereed to graduates these days as unemployable because they lack skill, ability and are being saturated with book work.

    “If you look at the demands of employers they are not looking at your certificate but your ability.”|

    Raising a poser, the university don queried, “Do our educated products have the ability, No; instead we store them with books and are saturated. They can be referred to what I now call damaged disposition because they are not motivated and there is no challenge. Parents seem to have done the job for them because basic amenities had been provided for them.

    “That is why we have adults, who should be self reliant, but are still living with their parents because they do not have skills,’’ she said.

    The don, who described a literate as being functional to oneself and the society, said that there was need for a change of attitude towards emphasis on school work and concentrate also on potential.

    The professor said that there were lots of things to be acquired outside the school curriculum.

    Osanyin said there was no effort in place to make the education a child gets in school relevant besides memorizing which was not literacy because it was not part of them.

    “Literacy should be beneficial to one which is not so in most cases; that is why we have examination malpractice.

    “It is because people think the end product is just the certificate; it is not all about the certificate.

    “If you have been properly educated, you have your skills, you know what you want to do that makes you literate and basically self reliant,’’ she said.

    She said that the situation could be rectified if the society should have a change of mind set and value of what we want our children to be.

    How FG/AfDB partnership will ease unemployment

    Expectedly, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, has described the present trend of youth unemployment as unacceptable; adding that youth unemployment is very serious in Nigeria and other Africa countries.

    Ngige gave this position as the Nigeria Government and the African Development Bank (AFDB) go into partnership to reverse the trend.

    Already, the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Labour and Employment and the AFDB, has commenced work on a program plan termed: “Youth Employment and Skills Development in Nigeria, Public-Private Roundtable.”

    Addressing a team of experts from AFDB, led by the Chief Development Economist, Human Capital Youth and Skills Development, Rosemond Offei Awuke, the minister said the partnership between the Federal Government and the bank is very imperative to reverse the trend of youth unemployment.

    He said: “The youths constitute a larger proportion of Nigeria’s Population; the pertinent question, therefore, is how many of these youths are fully employed, underemployed and unemployed? Alarmingly, majority of Nigerian youths are in the underemployed and unemployed categories.”

    Ngige emphasized that the Public-Private Sector roundtable is very important to identify the factors responsible for high youth unemployment and make recommendations that would address the daunting challenges associated with it.

    Besides, he said it would also seek to implement most of the recommendations with a view to reverse the ugly trend of rising youth unemployment in Nigeria.

    The Minister assured the African Development Bank that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is not relenting in its efforts at creating the much needed decent jobs for Nigeria youths, adding that the quantum jobs being created through various intervention programmes such, as the Npower further contribute to the gains.

    “We assure you that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is committed to all efforts aimed at job creation for the teeming unemployed Nigerian youths. I have no doubt that from this roundtable, meaningful solutions will be provided on youth employment.” The Minister said.

    In her remarks, the leader of the AFDB team, Rosemond Offei Awuke commended the commitment of Nigeria government to the fight against youth unemployment.

    She assured of the determination of the African Development Bank to support the Nigerian government in its drive at job creation.

     

  • Unemployment crisis: More Nigerians dump white collar jobs for blue collar jobs

    Apparently appalled with the worsening unemployment situation in the country most  graduate have resorted to self-help. Graduates who hitherto scampered for white collar jobs are now having a rethink: most of them have no qualms about dumping white collar jobs for blue collar jobs just to eke out a living.

    The terms “blue collar” and “white collar” are occupational classifications that distinguish workers who perform manual labor from workers who perform professional jobs. Historically, blue-collar workers wore uniforms, usually blue, and worked in trade occupations.

    Speaking with a cross-section of fresh graduates in different parts of the country they confided in The Nation that the agony of searching for white collar jobs without success has forced many of them to learn some trade of sorts.

    The most sort-after crafts including tailoring, hairdressing, to barbing saloons, laundering services, food vending to mention just a few.

    Nnamdi Matthew, not real name, is a lawyer but also runs a thriving second-hand clothes shop in Ladipo, Mushin.

    In a chat with The Nation, he said although he is makes appearance in court, he sells hand-me-downs just to augment what he earns from retainership from clients.

    Like Matthew, Adeyinka Adewale is also a biochemist who used to work in a flour mill in Apapa axis of Lagos but after he lost his job last year and thanks to the training he had some years back, he had to go into production of polythene bags, packaging amongst others.

    Unemployment: Still a hard nut to crack

    The National Bureau of Statistics has said unemployment is the major problem confronting the nation and not corruption as speculated.

    The bureau stated that Nigerians believe that most problems the country was facing were driven by the high rate of joblessness and such problems could only be addressed if the government could tackle unemployment.

    The Director, Real Sector and Household Statistics of the bureau, Isiaka Olanrewaju, made the disclosure while presenting key findings from the National Corruption Survey by NBS and other agencies of government on Wednesday in Abuja.

    According to him, the survey conducted by the bureau on the percentage of Nigeria’s population who considered selected issues that were the most important problems affecting the country revealed that corruption did not emerge as the country’s major problem.

    Olanrewaju added that it was discovered that unemployment was mostly selected as the first problem in the list by Nigerian respondents.

    “Apart from talking about the issue of bribery and corruption, we also had peoples’ opinion on what they think is the major problem arrange in Nigeria. And when we arranged them in order of mention, unemployment emerged as the number one.

    “This is followed by high cost of living, and corruption came third,” he said.

    According to the latest unemployment data obtained from the NBS, the nation’s unemployment rose from 7.5 percent in the first quarter of 2015 to a record-high of 18.8 percent in the third quarter of 2017.

    According to the NBS, four in 10 Nigerians are unemployed or underemployed.

    For an economy coming out of its first recession in 25 years, and one that lasted for over 12 months, we were clearly going to struggle creating jobs – economic growth has remained sluggish and unavoidably, this has led to a lack of work opportunities. But even at that the numbers are staggering!

    Unemployment rose from 12.1% in Q1 2016 (January 2016) to 18.8% in Q3 2017 (September 2017), the twelfth consecutive rise in unemployment rate since 2014.

    President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration gave its midterm performance with only N-power being noted as a major job creation initiative by the current government.

    The latest report by the NBS simply buttresses the statistics report of Nigeria in Q4 2017, which revealed that there is 7.9 million Nigerian youth aged 15-34 that are currently unemployed.

    The report, released in June 5, 2017, by the NBS also revealed that 58.1% of youth within this age bracket who are currently working are underemployed.

    Though, the active population in the country increased by 0.5% within the period, over 2.9 million graduates and another 5 million semi-skilled workers also lose their jobs within this period.

    It would be recalled that recently the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration gave its midterm performance with only N-power being noted as a major job creation initiative by the current government.

    On the gender spread of unemployment in Nigeria, the country has a 5.086 million of unemployed male and 6.46 million of the unemployed female. Also, the figure indicates that 24.2 % of employed female gender are underemployed.

    Noting the importance of education, about 3.4 million of uneducated Nigerians find it hard to get a job, as the unemployment rate in the rural areas is also on the increase.

    There are about 6.8 million unemployed people in rural areas, while urban areas have a pool of 4.7 million unemployed people.

    The report simply shows that Nigerian government must double its factors towards creating jobs and enabling an environment for business to grow. One of these very quick ways to this is by signing the 2017 budget in order to revive some idle sectors of the economy, especially the construction and building sector.

    ERGP plan for job creation

    The Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), the Federal Government’s medium-term Economic Plan, which was launched by President Muhammadu Buhari in April 2017, charts a course for the economy over the next four years (2017–2020).

    Its vision was to restore economic growth, invest in Nigerians, and build a globally competitive economy. And as part of investing in Nigerians, the ERGP set an ambitious target of creating 3.7 million jobs per annum over the four-year period (2017–2020), culminating in 15 million jobs by 2020.

    However, achieving this target and tackling Nigeria’s growing job market crisis is no tea party. For PwC, the informal sector holds promises of creating more high productivity jobs capable of boosting incomes and reducing poverty.

    It noted, for instance, that the informal economy, which is usually associated with weak productivity growth, is large in Nigeria and accounted for an estimated 41.4 per cent of GDP and 68.0 per cent of jobs created between 2013 and 2016.

     

  • Unemployment: Push to reverse jobless growth

    Nigeria’s population is projected to hit 410 million by 2050. This will rank her as the world’s third largest populated country. Experts say there is no better time than now for federal and state governments, in collaboration with the private sector, to prioritise implementation of policies that will drive productivity growth in agriculture, manufacturing and services sectors. According to them, doing so while also investing in human capital development and infrastructure can reverse Nigeria’s paradox of jobless growth. Assistant Editor CHIKODI OKEREOCHA reports.

    Nigeria boasts strong economic growth, which averaged 6.5 per cent between 2000 and 2017. Ordinarily, this should translate into a significant improvement in job creation and overall standard of living of Nigerians. Sadly, this hasn’t been the case. Despite the widely reported real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, unemployment figures remain high and poverty literarily walks on four toes.

    For instance, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) put Nigeria’s unemployment and underemployment rates at all-time high of 18.8 per cent and 21.2 per cent, respectively, for third quarter 2017. The NBS specifically said between January and September 2017 alone, 4.07 million Nigerians were jobless, bringing the number of unemployed people to 15.9 million.

    What is responsible for the rising unemployment and underemployment rates, despite recording high growth in recent years. Why have poverty and its associated social disorder and growing insecurity refused to abate? Were policies targeted at job creation and caging the unemployment monster not properly thought through?

    More importantly, what are the options available to sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest economy and most populous country to reverse the paradox that exists between her GDP growth rate and rising unemployment?

    A report by multinational professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) attributed the high unemployment rate to slow pace of job creation, noting that, in recent years, job creation and the quality of jobs have been marred by a slowdown in economic growth and the recession.

    PwC in the report titled “Structural Transformation and Jobless Growth in Nigeria” stated, for instance, that the pace of job creation in Nigeria has been considerably weaker than labour force growth, pointing out that between 2010 and 2017, average job growth was 1.6 per cent, weaker than labour force growth of 3.9 per cent.

    To reduce the unemployment rate, the report, obtained by The Nation, said an estimated employment growth of at least 4 to 5 per cent was required. “This would translate to at least three (3) million new jobs annually,” it added.

    PwC’s concern over raising the nation’s employment growth rate stemmed from the projection that the population will rise from an estimated 206 million in 2018 to 410 million by 2050.

    With a projection that this will make Nigeria the third largest populated country globally, PwC was emphatic that the implementation of policies that would deliver inclusive growth and engender a productive labour force has never been this imperative.

     

    Informal sector is key to job creation

    The Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), the Federal Government’s medium-term Economic Plan, which was launched by President Muhammadu Buhari in April 2017, charts a course for the economy over the next four years (2017–2020).

    Its vision was to restore economic growth, invest in Nigerians, and build a globally competitive economy. And as part of investing in Nigerians, the ERGP set an ambitious target of creating 3.7 million jobs per annum over the four-year period (2017–2020), culminating in 15 million jobs by 2020.

    However, achieving this target and tackling Nigeria’s growing job market crisis is no tea party. For PwC, the informal sector holds promises of creating more high productivity jobs capable of boosting incomes and reducing poverty.

    It noted, for instance, that the informal economy, which is usually associated with weak productivity growth, is large in Nigeria and accounted for an estimated 41.4 per cent of GDP and 68.0 per cent of jobs created between 2013 and 2016.

    The report said based on trends observed in recent years, the informal sector continues to absorb the largest proportion of Nigeria’s workforce, accounting for 73.7 per cent of jobs created in 2016, up from 54.0 per cent in 2013.

    “This sharp increase in new jobs created in the informal sector was associated with a decline in the share of jobs created in the formal and public sectors from 37 .2 per cent and 8.8 per cent in 2013 to 29.9 per cent and 0.0 per cent, respectively, in 2016.

    According to the NBS, informal jobs are jobs generated by individuals or businesses employing less than 10 persons or businesses operating with little or no structure.

     

    Structural reforms also

    The PwC report, which was authored by Partner & Chief Economist Dr. Andrew S Nevin, Economist Adedayo Akinbiyi, and Junior Economist Dayo Bakare, said reducing unemployment through services-led growth was a critical success factor.

    They, however, noted that there is need for structural reforms to lay the foundation for long-term sustainable growth in the broader economy and the services sector.

    Such reforms, according to the experts, include business environment reforms, which are necessary to improve the ease of doing business, sustain macroeconomic stability, and attract investments.

    They also specifically recommended improving human capital development, providing enabling infrastructure and intellectual property rights, noting that they are necessary ingredients to drive growth and productivity in the services sector.

     

    Human capital

    development is imperative

    According to experts, the services sector relies on high-skilled workers to drive high productivity sectors which include Information and Communications Technology (ICT), medical services and other professional services.

    Similarly, traditional services sectors such as transportation, accommodation and food services, rely on semi-skilled labour such as cooks, technicians, carpenters, plumbers, electricians, amongst others.

    “Improving human capital for these categories of workers would require increased spending on vocational centres, apprenticeships and technical colleges to improve skills,” PwC said, noting that in Nigeria, firms cite the low quality human capital as a key constraint to doing business.

    The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), Mr. Ahmed Kuru, also emphasised the need to invest in human capital, noting that this will raise workers’ productivity due to upgraded skills and better education.

    Kuru, who was Guest Speaker at the 2018 Institute of Directors (IoD) Fellows’ Luncheon, which held in Lagos, in a paper titled “Determinants of Growth in Transition Economies…,” also said it will empower workers with capacity for new ideas and innovations.

    He said countries that have made sustained progress invested heavily in enhancing the stock of skills of its labour force by prioritizing early childhood quality education, training and provision of health care.

    “The concept of human capital is even more important for labour-surplus countries. These countries are naturally endowed with surplus labour due to high birth rate. For example, the surplus labour in China, India, Brazil and Nigeria far outweigh the physical capital such as machinery, plant and equipment.

    “This human resource can be transformed into human capital via education, training, and improved health care delivery,” Karu said.

    Besides, human capital, he further said, “Provides the resources for the development and deepening of other areas of intellectual assets such as research/development, and training. It is interesting to note how China transformed its raw labour into human capital.

    To develop adequate human capital, PwC said there needs to be a ramp up in investment in education, through increased funding for schools, and public research and technological institutes.

    It, however, stated that given the poor state of public finances, where spending on education was allotted only 7.0 per cent of the federal budget in 2018, unlocking investment in education would require increased participation from the private sector.

    Beyond investing in education, the Director General, Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA), Mr. Segun Oshinowo, said time has come to completely overhaul the programmes and courses being run by Nigerian universities if the country must tackle the unemployment menace head on.

    While pointing out that this will help bring the universities up to speed with current realities in the labour market and the economy generally, Oshinowo observed that courses being offered in Nigerian universities were designed over a century ago by the colonial masters and are therefore, obsolete.

    The NECA DG, who spoke at a recent event in Lagos, also advocated for a change of mindset by youths from white collar jobs to vocational and skill-oriented jobs relevant to Nigeria of today.

     

    Infrastructure is game changer

    According to World Bank, telecommunications infrastructure and reliable power supply are the most crucial for services-led growth, aside quality human capital.

    However, Nigeria suffers chronic deficits in these areas. Telecommunications infrastructure is weak. As a result, broadband penetration is low at 21 per cent, lower than 58.6 per cent and 52.6 per cent in South Africa and Egypt, respectively.

    Similarly, there is a widening power infrastructure deficit, given that Nigeria’s installed power generating capacity is low at 10 gigawatts (GW), when compared with over 39 GW and 47 GW in Egypt and South Africa, respectively.

    “To cover the shortfall in infrastructure, significant private investments in utility infrastructure such as telecommunications, power and transport is required.

    “To attract investment, policies have to be consistent, while regulations need to allow market-reflective pricing, which guarantees cost recovery and contract enforcement between the private and public sector. These reforms are necessary to boost competition and promote efficiencies,” the PwC report said.

    The consensus of development experts particularly those in the labour market space is that the private sector, in collaboration with the public sector (federal, state and local governments), must prioritize investment in infrastructure and human capital development.

    They also recommend plugging the productivity gap in the agric sector to enhance value chain development and boost the growth momentum in the sector.

     

  • Wabba: unemployment major contributor to poverty

    The inability of the  political class to tame unemployment has not only led to a steady rise in social vices, it has made the country to become one with many poor people, President, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Ayuba Wabba, has said.

    He accused the country’s political leaders of not doing enough to create jobs that could put poverty at bay.

    He lamented the inability of the ruling class to fashion out policies that can drive sustainable development.

    He said: “Other groups and other countries have continued to manipulate our policies. We cannot on our own fashion out policies that can change our situation.”

    He argued that with the resources that God has given to Nigeria, there is no excuse for not succeeding in endeavours that other nations had made remarkable progress.

    Wabba said: “What is happening in our country is an unfortunate one because we have more than resources to develop our country. How we cannot take the huge advantage that our population has given to us is a mystery. I think that leadership challenge is the greatest problem we have as a nation. We are incapable of developing and implementing policies that can propel economic prosperity. Sometimes, I am tempted to ask what the problem is with the black man. There is virtually no African country that has peace and there is no way we can achieve development where there is no peace. Nigeria is assuming the capital of poverty of the world is worrisome and a position we should not be in in the first place.”

    Wabba lamented that the poor and non-regular payment of salaries to workers are formidable factors that are driving the growth of poverty in the country.

    The NLC helmsman, who alleged that about 350 Nigerians took loans of about N5.8trillion, which is haemorrhaging the economy,  called for the prosecution of the culprits.

    He said: “In the United States  that allowed bailout fund to rejig its economy, those that benefited from that largese have since paid back.

    “Why are those who took loans to revive their businesses not paying back? While we call for the repatriation of the money, they should also be prosecuted.”

    For Wabba, poverty would continue to ravage the continent until genuine peace was achieved and drum of war silenced.

     

  • Unemployment: Kumuyi urges govt, church to collaborate

    The General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Christian Ministry, (DCLM), Pastor William Kumuyi, has urged government and international agencies to collaborate with the church in solving youth unemployment.

    Kumuyi spoke yesterday at the church’s headquarters in Gbagada, Lagos during a certificate and award ceremony of the Skill Acquisition Programme (SAP) organised by the church’s Young Professionals Forum (YPF).

    Over 350 participants of SAP acquired skills in areas including urban and hydroponic farming, digital marketing, web design, mobile application, photography and video editing, event planning and interior design, pastry and mixology.

    Kumuyi, who was represented by DCLM Secretary, Pastor Jerry Asemota, noted that over half of Nigeria’s 182 million people were under 30 years and that according to the National Bureau of Statistics, the unemployment rate in the third quarters of 2017 was about 18.8%.

    “These are the most conservatives estimate. The figures could indeed be higher,” he noted

    Kumuyi said this motivated the church’s desire “to assist the teeming unfocused youths into self-discovery through God’s direction, which is leading us to support them in channelling their talents and mental resources into productive use.

    “The motivation for this pivotal professional training began in 2011 but formally commenced with the skill acquisition programme last month, which is a continuation of our desire to cultivate the total and an egalitarian display of the complete mankind whose entire faculties are carefully primed to show forth the praise of God”.

    Kumuyi added: “It remains our abiding desire to have them subsequently transformed from being employees to self-employed personalities and from employers to becoming entrepreneurs. Our unflagging desire is to reignite their spiritual lives to appropriate blessing from the arsenal of God’s grace”.

     

  • FIIRO perfects strategy to fight unemployment

    the Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi (FIIRO) says it has perfected strategies to  eliminate  unemployment  in the country.

    Disclosing this at the opening ceremony of a three-day training workshop on ‘Fish Smoking Technology’ held recently in Lagos, the FIIRO Director-General (DG), Professor Gloria Elemo, noted that unemployment should have no room in Nigeria considering the great potential and the abundant human/natural resources available in the country.

    Consequently, Elemo disclosed that the institute will soon start implementing its various job creating strategies in collaboration with some other agencies aimed at reducing unemployment to the barest minimum in the country.

    “One of such programmes is the national Techno-entrepreneurship Development Initiative, an initiative designed by FIIRO with the support of the Federal Government of Nigeria”, she stated.

    According to her, this initiative has the capacity to train two million unemployed youths and women annually at full implementation, in addition to various numbers of small and medium enterprises that will grow there from.

    “Today’s training workshop could be conceived one of the immediate intervention programme of the federal government to reduce unemployment through empowerment of youths and women who in turn would graduate to be job providers rather than job seekers”, Elemo said.

    Commending FIIRO, Mrs Bolaji Daniel, Coordinator of the Ikorodu Fish Farmers stated that by being trained by FIIRO, the international market would no longer reject Dried fish from Nigeria.

    She noted; “This training will help us to do the right thing, in terms of moisture content, nutrition composition, and all the processes of cleaning up which we never knew. A lot of people smoke fish, but without the real knowledge and training.”

     

  • ‘Nigeria needs 3m jobs yearly to tackle unemployment’

    Despite strong economic growth, Nigeria faces tremendous challenges in terms of sustainable job creation and productivity as the incidence of high unemployment has become a major socio-economic challenge over the past decade, a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), has said.

    The multinational professional services firm in the report titled: “Structural Transformation and Jobless Growth in Nigeria”, said in recent years, job creation and the quality of jobs have been marred by a slowdown in economic growth and the recession.

    The report, which was released at the weekend, said latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) put Nigeria’s unemployment rate at 18.8 per cent as at third quarter (Q3) 2017. It noted that two years earlier, the rate was 9.9 per cent, while underemployment rate reached the highest on record at 21.2 per cent, from 1 7.4 per cent over the same period.

    The report, which was authored by PwC Partner & Chief Economist Dr. Andrew S Nevin, Economist Adedayo Akinbiyi, and Junior Economist Dayo Bakare, attributed the incidence of high unemployment in Nigeria to the slow pace of job creation, which has been considerably weaker than labour force growth.

    “Between 2010 and 2017, average job growth was 1.6 per cent, weaker than labour force growth of 3.9 per cent. To reduce the unemployment rate, we estimate that employment growth of at least 4-5 per cent, is required. This would translate to at least three million new jobs annually,” the report observed.

    PwC also said Nigeria’s population is projected to rise to 410 million by 2050. It noted that with this population, the country will rank as the third largest populated country globally. “As such, implementing policies that will deliver inclusive growth and engender a productive labour force is imperative,” it said.

    The report, however, said delivering jobs capable of boosting incomes and reducing poverty, required creating more high productivity jobs within the informal sector. “The informal economy, which is usually associated with weak productivity growth, is large in Nigeria, accounting for an estimated 41.4 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 68.0 per cent of jobs created between 2013 and 2016,” it said.

    PwC observed that the economic development model, which resulted in industrialisation in advanced economies and East Asia, followed a three-stage process where agriculture, industry and services sectors dominated output in that sequence.

    It said in contrast that structural change in India has made a positive contribution to growth and employment, driven by the expansion of the high productivity activities within the services sector, largely Information Technology (IT) and Business Process Outsourcing services (BPO).