‘Nigeria’s economy needs to create over three million jobs yearly’

Within the next five years, Nigeria’s economy is expected to create over three million jobs yearly to maintain the current unemployment rate of 14 per cent, the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR) policy report has said.

The report, which was made available to The Guardian at the weekend, also said that the 2016 global Youth Development Index (YDI) scored Nigeria 0.51 per cent ranking 141 out of 183 countries but that in the domain of employment and opportunities, the country ranked 158.

Also, the report said between the first and third quarter of 2016, the economy created 422,133 net jobs while 3.7 million people (comprised about 70 per cent youths) entered the labour force in the same period.

As a way of finding lasting solution to the problems, the report listed seven recommendations as very necessary to address the immediate and longer-term aspects of the youths’ unemployment challenges.

These include, revamping the approach to government’s role in job creation by shifting from direct job creation to a coherent strategic approach, facilitating the development, implementation and continuous renewal of the strategy, re-structure skills acquisition and training system in Nigeria via a comprehensive skills development ecosystem as well as developing a results-based monitoring and evaluation system under the auspices of the economic management team to track and adjust the implementation policy, among others.

Inaugurating the inter-ministerial task team, the Acting Director-General of the BPSR, Mr. Ibrahim Arabi, urged members of the team to take the assignment with a sense of high responsibility.

He also expressed confidence on the team under the chairmanship of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha, to properly drive the implementation of the recommendations of the report to a logical conclusion.

He re-echoed the need for the team to be highly committed to the task ahead and re-assured of the Federal Government’s sincere commitment to tackling youths’ restiveness and unemployment through the various job creation programmes outlined.

Meanwhile, amid rising spate of insecurity and corruption in the country, Nigerians have blamed consistent increase in unemployment for the slow pace in the nation’s growth and development.

Speaking at the weekend, they noted that the unemployed youths, especially university graduates, do not only constitute an unfortunate wastage of human capital, but also constitute a major threat to a stable social order, thereby calling on government to urgently adopt policies to tackle the monster.

A media strategist and public analyst, Mr. Adeyinka Ajayi, said unemployment in the country had resulted in the increase of people who do not have purchasing power, which translates to less consumption, lower production and leading to a distortion economic growth.

Also, economic expert, Mr. Vincent Nnaemeka, attributed the high unemployment rate to the inability of various governments to develop and utilise the nation’s human and manpower resources effectively, especially in the rural sector.

Besides, a cleric, Rev. Fr. John Paul, in his homily yesterday at St. Stephen Catholic Church, Whitesand, Lagos, however, stressed the need for more attention to be placed on job creation for the teeming unemployed youths, intensify efforts on war against corruption and improvement of infrastructure within the country, among others.