KEMI OMONIYI
The Federal Government is committed to creating an enabling environment for the creation of 21 million full time jobs and lift 35 million people out of poverty by 2025. This is in line with the National Development Plan of the government.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, who stated this at the Inter-Ministerial Training Workshop on Boosting Job Creation, held at the United Nations House in Abuja, said that the Federal, State, and Local Governments, as well as high networth individuals and corporate organisations have been giving serious attention to job creation, and as such, had taken necessary actions needed to create decent jobs for the Nigerian workforce.
He stressed that the high rate of unemployment in the country could not be ignored as it was a major contributing factor to the increased insurgencies, agitations and other criminal activities manifesting in different parts of the country.
The Minister, who was represented by Director of Labour, in the Employment and Wages Department of the Ministry, Mrs Gloria Ogifo, noted that the state of the economy would not stop governments’ programmes for job creation and the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment in collaboration with its social partners and relevant stakeholders had taken immediate and more proactive approaches to creating jobs, empowering the youths, and increasing productivity.
Ngige hoped that the workshop would help to navigate the paths for responsive actions that would bring about job creation.
According to him, such responsive actions that would stimulate sustainable job creation include encouraging entrepreneurship orientation from the primary level, to inculcate the culture of self employment amongst the pupils at the early stage; providing credit facilities at low interest rate which would encourage youths to engage in agricultural entrepreneurship, as well as Improving mechanical agricultural system.
He also identified other responses as creating more employment opportunities in urban and rural areas through strengthening the tourism sector, providing basic infrastructure, especially power, and good road networks; among others.
The Senior Special Adviser to the President on Employment and Job creation, Mrs Matilda Megwa, while stating the objectives and outcome of the training workshop said that the meeting was critical, as a review of the National Employment Policy had identified loopholes in the employment processes across all sectors.
She said that the training was aimed at tackling causes, collecting relevant data and proffering solutions to unemployment. She urged all social partners and relevant stakeholders to make themselves available all through the processes and procedures of implementing the National Development Plan.
Speaking at the workshop, the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Country Director, Vanessa Phala, noted that the ILO was pleased to be collaborating with the Ministry to promote an enabling environment for the promotion of quality job creation through the implementation of the National Employment Policy.
She added that the workshop would avail stakeholders the opportunity to present and review their programmes aimed at employment creation, identify synergies and seek alignment with existing policies and plans.
Present at the programme was the Statistician General of the Federation, Prince Adeyemi Adeniran; Director General of Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), Mr Adewale Smart Oyerinde; President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Ayuba Wabba; representatives of Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), and Small & Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), among others.
