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Tag: unemployment

  • Senate to summon Ngige over unemployment rate

    Senate to summon Ngige over unemployment rate

    The Senate on Tuesday resolved to invite the Minister of Labour and Employment to provide insight into government’s roadmap towards tackling unemployment in the country.

    This followed a motion by Sen. Duro Faseyi (PDP-Ekiti), who called on the President Muhammadu Buhari to declare a state of emergency on unemployment with a view to confront the challenge “frontally and radically”.

    “The economic recession which has hit the country would integrally multiply the level of unemployment in the country as more companies have started considering downsizing in order to cut cost and optimise profit,” he said.

    Faseyi lamented that the unemployment figure in the country had created social tension and crisis in the society, which was evident in cases of kidnapping and insurgency.

    He advised that urgent and results-oriented steps should be taken to tackle the “unpalatable unemployment” situation in the country.

    Supporting the motion, Sen. Sabi Abdullahi (APC-Niger) said that the time was ripe for the National Assembly to proffer solution to unemployment in the country.

    “There is no better time than now, especially as we are moving towards next year’s budget proposal.

    “The policy intent of government with respect to unemployment is not unambiguous because government has accepted that the unemployment rate is something to worry about,” Abdullahi said.

    He said that what was worrisome was the issue of translating policy intent into programmes and actions that would address the issue of unemployment.

    “The Committee on Labour and Employment was on oversight just last week.

    “It was revealed that the National Directorate for Employment has very innovative programmes that cut across various sectors in various locations across the federation.

    “In the budget of N1.8 billion, as at November, they were only given N74 million, yet it is expected that from the programmes they have, they are expected to train youths and various interest groups.

    “This would enable the youths to begin to do something by way of employing themselves or even creating small and micro enterprises where they can employ one or two persons,” he said.

    The lawmaker urged members of the senate to find a yardstick in determining how much the Ministry of Labour and Employment would receive to tackle unemployment. (NAN)

    After debate on the motion, the lawmakers adopted it with a resolution to invite Labour Minister for some explanation.

    The Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, who presided at the plenary, directed the Clerk of the Senate to invite the minister.

  • Unemployment rate in Nigeria unacceptable, says Ngige

    Unemployment rate in Nigeria unacceptable, says Ngige

    The Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige has said that the current unemployment rate in the country was unacceptable to the Buhari administration as no nation can develop by leaving out a vast percentage of its productive human capacity.
    Deputy Director, Press in the Ministry, Samuel Olowokoore quoted the Minister as saying that the Buhari government was committed to job creation and the provision of decent employment opportunity for Nigerians within the productive age.
    A statement from the Ministry said the Minister spoke at a validation workshop on the reviewed the National Employment Policy (NEP), organised by the Ministry in collaboration with the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association, Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria.
    He stressed that “there is urgent need to engage a larger percentage of the productive age in decent, fairly remunerated and sustainable means of livelihood either as wage earners or self-employed, while preserving existing gainful employments.”
    Senator Ngige disclosed that towards ensuring inclusive national employment policy, the revised NEP addresses concerns such as employment of the physically challenged, international labour migration, decent work components, and higher education for employability including green jobs amongst others.
    He advocated objective and assiduous cooperation of all stakeholder and the entire citizens to the development of the country towards surmounting the current challenges facing Nigeria.
    According to the Minister, “the country is currently facing difficult times in the annals of its history requiring understanding and cooperation of employers, workers and other stakeholders. In proposing strategies to overcome the current challenges, stakeholders must objectively and conscientiously be willing to make necessary trade-offs in the overall interest of the society.”
    The Director ILO Country Office for Nigeria, Ghana Liberia, Sierra Leone and Liason Office of ECOWAS, Dennis Zulu expressed confidence that the reviewed employment policy will enhance coherent, integrated and sustainable multi-sectorial response to combat the challenges of unemployment.
    Zulu appealed to the federal government to ratify the ILO convention 122 saying that the reviewed national employment policy is already in line with the objectives of the conventions.
    Permanent Secretary Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Dr. Clement Iloh said that the reviewed National Employment Policy is an off-shoot of the first National Policy on Employment approved by the Federal Executive Council in 2002, with the objective of promoting job creation as a priority in national, economic and social policy, safeguard the basic rights and interest of workers, stimulate economic growth and development as well as eradicate poverty and improve the living standards of citizens.

  • Buhari urged on unemployment, power supply

    Buhari urged on unemployment, power supply

    A broadcaster, Prince Adeniyi Adewole Adeyemi, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to tackle unemployment and find a solution to erratic power supply.

    Adeyemi, who is one of the children of Alaafin of Oyo, spoke during a weekly Yoruba radio programme entitled:” Sodamo”, in Ibadan.

    He said it was pertinent to note that the few companies in the country were experiencing financial problem.

    He said most of them had  begun to relocate to other neighbouring countries following power outage.

    “Our leaders import generators which Nigerians buy to stabilise their businesses because of inadequate power supply. The poor power situation of Nigeria has contributed a lot to the nose-dive of the economy because regular power supply is the bedrock of any nation’s economy.

    “They need to see how it is done in developed countries and emulate the method used. Government needs to resuscitate our refineries and railway transport system to improve our failing economy. Before the advent of oil, agriculture used to be the mainstay of the nation’s economy. But when oil was discovered, agriculture was abandoned and it has not been given adequate priority”.

    The ace broadcaster enjoyined Nigeria leaders to focus more on investing in agriculture in other to reduce unemployment and revitalise the economy.

     

  • NECA blames rising unemployment on lack of good governance

    NECA blames rising unemployment on lack of good governance

    The Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) has blamed the upsurge in unemployment on lack of pervasive development and absence of good governance.

    NECA’s Director-General, Olusegun Oshinowo, who spoke in Lagos, at the launch of an initiative profile, ‘virtual office’, by its sister’s body, Network of Entrepreneurial Women (NNEW), said Nigeria was a developing country with untapped opportunities, waiting to be harnessed.

    He argued that if Nigeria got its act right, the country should not be looking for manpower to support the economy, adding that until Nigeria realised that her problem is not majorly unemployment, it would continue to treat the symptoms rather than the disease.

    “How can a country with large arable land have graduates of agriculture that are unemployed? How can a country, which is the biggest exporter of crude oil in Africa and sixth in the world, have graduates of chemical engineering and geology that are unemployed? The two do not really connect,” he said.

    Oshinowo said the country’s problem was not unemployment, but failure of good policies to promote meaningful development in all strata of government.

    The virtual office, which is a space utility facility with full application that includes professional live communications, is designed to meet the growing demand of Small and Medium Scale Entrepreneurs (SMEs) for affordable office space.

    Having recognised that not all start-up businesses would have the means or the resources to acquire its own office space or facility to start-up, Oshinowo said they need a workplace environment to utilise their vocational skills, stating that if the business environment has not been friendly to sustain existing businesses and encourage new ones, they may not have a place to utilise them.

    “We need to get our priority right. It seems like a marathon kind of approach, which will eventually lead to the resolution of our usual employment. We have got to take a step along that way by prioritising meaningful development, good government policies, encouraging good governance in all strata of government. If we fail to do that, whatever other measures we take to solve unemployment would not lead anywhere,” he said.

    A member of NNEW Governing Council, Mrs. Fayo Williams, noted that good governance is essential to the development of the economy and people of Nigeria.

    According to her, Nigeria needs a lot of inter-agency cooperation with a marshal plan that would help the country harness its human and natural bountiful resources.

    “We need to get the economy going, using the SMEs as a launch pad, making them feel welcome and helping them overcome some of the hydra-headed issues to make them more relevant now in the 21st Century,” she said.

  • Recession: Northern youths want CBN Governor sacked within 21 days

    Recession: Northern youths want CBN Governor sacked within 21 days

    Group under the auspices of Northern Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) has called for voluntary resignation of Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele within the next 21 days or do something to put the nation’s economy on the right track.

    They said though they were not economists but they are aware that economy of the country is in shambles with foreign exchange rate worst in recent times, calling on President Mohammadu Buhari to look for people with technical know-how to join him to fix the economy before it gets out of hand completely.

    President, NYCN, Comrade Isah Abubakar in a statement on Wednesday noted that lack of economy and financial direction have increased poverty rate in recent times from 60 per cent to 75 per cent with attendant consequences that have increased number of impoverished Nigerians to about 120 million.

    The statement read in part: “after watching with keen interest the present economic hardship in the country, we are saying no thanks to CBN Governor who has not been able to come up with any plan that can take us out of the wood as head of our financial body, we at NYCN while supporting the administration of President Mohammadu Buhari are saying we are not happy with his economy team hence the need to look inward for better hands.

    “We now pay as high as about N500 to a dollar. This has brought serious hunger and hardship on our people because most of what we eat are imported and are been affected by high foreign exchange. Inflation has increased from 7 percent in 2013 to 17 percent in quota 4 of 2015 and quota 3 of 2016 which bothers the CBN Governor and Finance Minister, Funke Adeosun agreed to the fact that economy is in trouble.

    “Unemployment is another problem as it has soared to 24 percent at a period when millions of beverages, tobacco, banks and hospitality sector workers have been added to already saturated Labour market. Small and medium scale enterprises that were coming up are folding up as they can not bear the exchange rate that has sky rocketed beyond their reach.

    “This has show total failure of the CBN governor and he has proved his total incompetence to manage Nigeria economy. It is to this regard we demand for his resignation as the CBN governor and urged Mr President to appoint a competent hand not minding where he comes from, his ethnicity, or religion background. We only need someone with sound economics nitty-gritty who can manage our delicate economy. This is because we demand nothing but a better Nigeria.

    “Failure of the CBN governor to voluntarily resign or put the economy in the right track within the 21-day of this ultimatum, NYCN will be forced to organize and mobilize mass protests in front of the CBN headquarters in Abuja”, the statement added.

    The statement however called on All Progressives Congress (APC) led government at various levels to stop playing blame games and work for people that elected them into varying offices they are occupying, noting that they were voted in to effect positive change the country needed and not to keep complaining.

    “We know we are not broke. It’s just that only few cabal and multi national companies are holding it. The time to work is now”.

  • Cleric urges FG to end unemployment

    A Cleric, Rev. Fr. Stephen Akpe, has urged the Federal Government to eradicate poverty and unemployment to achieve national development.

    Akpe, an Assistant Coordinator , Justice Development and Peace Commission (JDPC), Catholic Archdiocese of Jos, made plea in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Jos.

    He said that improving the economic and social status of the people would engender national development.

    According to Akpe, hunger, poverty, squalor, unemployment and other vices prevent people from attaining their full potential and living a better life.

    “The Church today is laying so much emphasis on the issue of human security; and this is exactly what we are doing in JDPC.

    “By the time people begin to live good life, there will be no need for insecurity.

    “As we all know, when there is no killing and wanton destruction of property, national development will be achieved.

    “When hunger, poverty, unemployment and other social vices are properly tackled, insecurity will be a thing of the past in Nigeria,’’ he said.

    Akpe advised public office holders to show prudence in spending public funds and channel resources to areas that would benefit the people.

    “Government must begin to make deliberate efforts to empower people at the grassroots, because that is where a large chunk of the poor lives.

    “When resources are distributed equitably and the wide gap that exists between the rich and the poor is bridged, we will begin to get things right in this country,’’ he said.

  • Fafunwa Foundation to tackle unemployment, says ex-NUC boss Okebukola

    Fafunwa Foundation to tackle unemployment, says ex-NUC boss Okebukola

    Fafunwa Education Foundation (FEF) is determined to tackle unemployment and  eradicate crime and youth restiveness, the former Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Prof. Peter Okebukola, has said.

    Okebukola, who spoke yesterday at the Faculty of Education auditorium, University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka, at a news conference to herald this year’s FEF’s conference tagged: ‘Tackling the problem of unemployment in Nigeria’, said the foundation would ensure the implementation of the recommendations of the conference.

    He said: “This year, the FEF, in addition to her annual lecture series and awards, is hosting a national conference on the theme: ‘Tackling the problem of unemployment in Nigeria’. Based on her conviction, Nigeria requires  practical and holistic approach with result-oriented approach among stakeholders to tackle unemployment.

    “The conference will serve as a platform for scholars, intellectuals and entrepreneurs from across the disciplines to share interdisciplinary knowledge and experience that will reflect not only the diverse manifestations and implications of unemployment in the country, but also give plausible, pragmatic and policy-impacting solutions.”

    Okebukola said the conference, the maiden edition, would hold every three years on issues to accelerate and fast-track the socio-economic and educational development of the country.

    He added that it would hold from September 20 to 23 at the Faculty of Education, University of Lagos, by 10a.m.

    Okebukola, the Award Committee Chairman, member of the FEF’s Board of Trustees and Pro-Chancellor, Crawford University, Igbesa, Ogun State, said the yearly post-doctoral award in education and best practice award in education would also take place during the event.

    The Chairman of the FEF’s Academic Committee, Prof. Kayode Alao, of the Faculty of Education, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, said the foundation was interested in promoting academic excellence among universities.

    Dr. Pat Akumabor, the Chairperson of the Local Organising Committee, urged students to be serious with their studies so that they would be employable or become entrepreneurs after their graduation.

    Mr. Thanni Fafunwa, one of the children of the late Prof. Aliu Babatunde Fafunwa, said his father, an ex-Minister of Education and Youth Development, established the FEF, a non-government organisation, in January 1995 to provide fresh insight and practical ideas on improving education in the country.

  • ILO bemoans rising unemployment

    The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has alerted that youth unemployment is rising and would likely reach 13.1 per cent this year.

    Its Director-General, Guy Ryder, at the G20 Summit in Beijing, China, said leaders from across the G20 countries spoke frankly about the economic and political risks caused by slow growth and weak employment prospects.

    According to the global body, unemployment this year is inching close to a historic peak of 71 million jobless young people.

    Ryder said: “The agreements reached at the Hangzhou Summit showed signs of a shift towards a more balanced policy response to the challenges of slow growth, high unemployment and underemployment, inequality, and continuing rapid structural change”.

    He pointed out that globally, unemployment and underemployment was high and rising, wage incomes stagnant, and inequality widening.

    “The importance of social dialogue in translating global agreements into sustainable solutions cannot be overemphasised. This is feeding back into weak consumer demand, weak investment, pressure on public finances and continued slow growth.

    “This slow growth has created social tensions, not the least among them young women and men looking to get started in working life. It is driving people to leave their communities and seek work elsewhere, often far away,” Ryder said.

    The ILO head also pointed out that frustrated expectations provided the tinder that inflammatory political forces used to undermine support for open economies and societies that respect and value diversity.

    He added that G20 leadership was vital in reversing these trends, and its support for the United Nations (UN) with the G20 Action Plan on the 2030 Agenda for  Sustainable Development was key.

    Ryder also highlighted the Declaration of the G20 Labour and Employment Ministers, which recommended policies on combating working poverty, ending discrimination, and narrowing gaps in working conditions.

    It also recommended reducing inequalities, enhancing minimum wage mechanisms, and social protection that will be critical in shaping the future of work.

    Ryder also congratulated China on engaging business and labour in the preparations on the summit. “The importance of social dialogue in translating global agreements into sustainable solutions cannot be overemphasised,” he concluded.

    The summit’s communiqué committed the G20 to work in order to ensure that the economic growth serves the needs of everyone and benefits all countries and all people, including in particular, women, youth and disadvantaged groups.

    It also committed to generating more quality jobs, addressing inequalities and eradicating poverty so that no one was left behind.

    It also emphasised that for sustainable development, strengthened labour market institutions and policies could support productivity and promote decent work, and therefore, higher sustainable wage growth in particular, for the low-income workers.

  • ITF blames high unemployment on skills gap

    The Industrial Training Fund (ITF) has blamed the high unemployment rate in the country on the gap between available skills and demands of the labour market.

    Speaking with The Nation, ITF Acting Director-General Mr. Dickson Onuoha said there were many job openings but no skilled manpower to fill them.

    He said the ITF, in collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), launched a National Industrial Skills Gap Assessment Survey in 2015, and its result showed that there were vacancies which were not adequately filled.

    His words: “Preliminary information from the report of that exercise, which is about to be finalised and released, shows that there are a lot of vacancies in the industries.  This is not because of lack of youths or graduates, but because they lack the required skills to fill  these vacancies.’’

    In a related event, Onuoha said the Fund had begun training 9,500 youths in 18 states, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), in various trades.

    At the flag off of the 2016 National Industrial Skills Development Programme (NISDP) in Alausa, Lagos,  Onuoha canvassed support for the government’s rapid industrialisation and economic diversification policy.

    He said the training was in line with the Federal Government’s commitment to bridging the unemployment gap through entrepreneurial development, adding that the programme was designed to equip young Nigerians with requisite skills for job creation.

    “The first phase of the programme commenced four years ago and has continued in subsequent phases in all states of the federation and FCT, producing thousands of well trained artisans. Trainees were exposed to intensive technical and vocational skills for three months in different trade areas.

    “Today, we are witnessing the flag off of the fifth phase of the programme, which shall be implemented simultaneously in 18 states and the FCT. A total of 9,500 youths will be trained in this phase,” Onouha said.

    He said ITF identified Lagos State Government as a strategic partner in the realisation of the Nigerian project, noting that the collaboration would deepen and sustain the achievements recorded so far by Lagos State.

    “It is therefore in this spirit of shared determination that we have identified and selected satellite centres in three senatorial districts of Lagos State to provide training in areas such as catering and hotel management; tailoring and fashion design, refrigerator and air-conditioning; domestic electric installation, among others,” Onuoha said.

    He said the trade areas were carefully selected based on their anticipated value addition to the citizens  and the potential to provide opportunities for growth of micro, small and medium enterprises, as well as being a sure means of sustainable livelihood.

    Lagos State Governor  Akinwunmi Ambode, who was represented by the Director, Ministry of Agriculture, Mr. Adesokan Gboyega, said Lagos State was pursuing a policy of job creation and sustainable development. He added that Lagos was ever ready to partner with the ITF.

  • Institute proffers solutions to unemployment

    To tackle growing unemployment in the country particularly among the youths, there is need to address issues of policy inconsistency, poor political governance and setting of policy direction that elicits a harsh business environment.

    Other issues such as lack of stakeholders’ ownership of employment policy, misalignment of the educational system output and the skill-sets required by current employers of labour, which, among others, are factors responsible for the increasing rate of unemployment, must be addressed.

    These are key findings of a study conducted by the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria (CIPM). The study tagged ‘Management of National Unemployment Challenge (MNUC)’ was conceived by CIPM’s leadership to proffer actionable and sustainable solutions to the socio-economic and political challenges of unemployment in Nigeria.

    Speaking in Lagos yesterday at a media and stakeholders engagement on MNUC held at the CIPM Council Chambers, CIPM President/Chairman of Governing Council Mr. Anthony Eromosele Arabome said, for instance, that latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) have shown that youth unemployment has grown from an average of 16.43 per cent in 2014 to 21.50 per cent in the first quarter of 2016.

    He also regretted the recent exit of 20 foreign shipping companies from Nigeria, saying that the development compounded the unemployment situation in the country, as it left over 3,000 teeming, able and willing individuals unemployed. He said this is in addition to the rising trend of unemployment recently observed in the financial and oil & gas sectors of the economy.

    The CIPM president, therefore, said “As human resource management experts, our objective is to proffer and recommend actionable and sustainable solutions, which align with the current administration’s focus on job creation initiatives geared at combating this national menace.”

    He said the project, which was championed by a seven man Committee headed by a Fellow and one-time Registrar & CEO of the Institute, Dr.  Musa Rabiu (FCIPM) was done in collaboration with the Federal Government, expressing hope that its recommendations would be adopted by different stakeholders especially the Presidency charged with the responsibility of policy formulation and implementation.

    Arabome pointed out that policymakers have a key role to play in introducing the reforms and measures needed to improve the labour market and also tackle the unemployment scourge. He assured of the Institute’s readiness to work with the Federal Government to implement policies aimed at increasing the nation’s growth potential and create an economic environ