Personnel management institute to support Federal Government on job creation

Unemployment rises to 10.4 per cent

Worried by the rising unemployment, the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM) has expressed its desire to assist the Federal Government in tackling the unemployment crisis facing the nation.

The institute stressed that the recent unemployment data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) should be a source of concern to all stakeholders in the country.

Speaking recently in Lagos, the President of CIPM, Anthony Arabome, stated that the indicators have shown that the country is growing at an increasing rate, with serious attendant consequences for the nation.

He said a report had shown that 20 foreign shipping companies operating in Nigeria have discontinued operations, thereby leaving over 3,000 able bodied individuals’ unemployed, “in addition to the rising trend of
unemployment recently observed in the financial, oil and gas sector sectors of the country.”

The institute, as part of its efforts to support federal government in the fight against unemployment recently conducted a research study entitled: ‘The Management of National Unemployment Challenge (MNUC)’, as a response to some perceived social, economic and political challenges of unemployment in Nigeria.

Arabome explained that the MNUC study was initiated to collaborate with the Federal Government in providing sustainable solutions to the unemployment challenge in the country, adding that it is part of the institute’s contribution to national transformation.

He added: “The immediate and remote causes of unemployment include policy inconsistency, poor political governance and setting of policy direction which in turn elicits a harsh business environment, lack of stakeholders ownership of national employment policy, mis-alignment of the educational system output and the skill-sets required by current employers of labour and others.

“CIPM is willing and ready to collaborate with relevant stakeholders to review/design those curricula of our institutions of higher learning to reflect current skills demand reality. CIPM is also available to train the trainers in those institutions of higher learning to ensure that industry realities are embedded in their learning delivery processes. Resolving unemployment requires collaboration of different stakeholders in the nation.”

Reports by Bukola Bolajoko, say Nigeria has been battling with a huge population of unemployed, or under-employed youths even before recession sets in.

This has prompted successive governments’ demonstrate their resolve in the promotion of entrepreneurial skills, bearing in mind that the much desired boom and diversification of the nation’s economy can only be
achieved through a buoyant Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SME) sector which thrives on entrepreneurship.

Efforts by past administrations have brought about the emergence of agencies and institutions such as the National Economic Reconstruction Fund (NERFUND) in 1989, with an initial capital outlay of N300million,Nigeria Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) in 1990 with paid-up capital of N1.367billion, the Peoples Bank in 1990 with N330million.