It is fundamental reality that man shall not live by bread alone, but it is perhaps more fundamental that man cannot live without bread, because food is a basic need of life. One gray area in Nigeria’s economic planning has been the inability to industrialize to accommodate the ever growing population of high caliber and intermediate workers. It is government’s inability to provide job opportunities for Nigerians that has precipitated soaring unemployment in the country.
The National Bureau of Statistic (NBS) has put the figure of unemployed Nigerians in the first half of last year at 23.9 per cent, up from 21.1 per cent in 2010 and 19.7 per cent in 2009.As at last year, the total number of unemployed Nigerians rose from more than 12 million in 2010 to more than 14 million in 2011, with the figure increasing by 1.8 million between December 2010 and June 2011. Again, the incidence of unemployment according to the NBS, was highest among youths aged between 15 and 24, and 25 and 44, adding that the problem was more pronounced in the rural areas. These bas statistics are certainly not acceptable. It is against this background that the Federal Government under the leadership of President Goodluck Jonathan set up an Economic Advisory Team to chart a direction for the nation’s economic rejuvenation efforts. Mr. President believes that with concerted efforts, Nigeria is still capable of meeting the Millennium Development Goals.
The National Transformation Blueprint designed in line with the Vision 20: 20:20 document stipulates that Nigeria will have a large, strong, diversified, sustainable and competitive economy that effectively harnesses the talents and energies of its people and responsibly exploits its natural endowments to guarantee a high standard of living and quality of life to its citizens. Fundamental to the Vision are two broad objectives – optimizing human and natural resources to achieve rapid economic growth, and translating that growth into equitable social development for all citizens.
This will be pursued within the social context of a peaceful, equitable, harmonious and just society, where every citizen has a strong sense of national identity and citizens are supported by an educational and healthcare system that caters for all, and sustains a life expectancy of not less than 70 years.
The blue print is geared towards the eradicate extreme hunger and poverty; enhancing access to quality healthcare, Provide accessible and affordable housing and providing sustainable access to potable water and basic sanitation among others. Specifically, the transformation agenda seeks to stimulate primary production to enhance the competitiveness of Nigeria’s real sector; significantly increase production of processed and manufactured goods for export. It was also geared stimulating domestic and foreign trade in value-added goods and services and strengthens linkages among key sectors of the economy.
President Goodluck Jonathan acknowledges that fact that unemployment had become one of the biggest challenges in Nigeria and that it could only be addressed with innovative ideas that would empower youths to create jobs. The President said “My conviction is that if government decides to create enterprises, to employ people, the rate will go at arithmetic means but if we have a programme where we identify some talented creative youth and empower them to employ, the rate of employment will grow in a geometric progression”.
President Goodluck Jonathan recently declared his administration`s commitment to creating job opportunity for the army of unemployed youth in the country. Under a new scheme: government has introduced the Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria nicknamed (YouWin!), and an estimated 110,000 jobs are being planned as part of government`s efforts to tackle unemployment in the next four years. The President disclosed that due to the age distribution of youths, “which makes them more in number”, it was imperative for them to take the driver’s seat of the country’s development and therefore need all the support his administration could offer.
While President Jonathan and his economic team are making concerted efforts to appeal to the UNDP, and other development partners to contribute their quota the bad statistics seem to be unending. Added to these bad statistics is the disclosure by the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) which puts the number of Nigerian graduates who completed the compulsory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) within the last five years but have remained unemployed at over 200,000. This is appalling. It should be noted that President Jonathan appealed to UNDP to assist Nigeria in this programme which aims at providing jobs for the young, since in his own words, Nigeria’s population will in November, 2011, rise to 166 million.
To underscore the need for partnership and collaboration, the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka Wogu, has said job creation and employment generation is at the fore-front of the transformation agenda of the administration under the leadership of President Goodluck Jonathan. The minister said this when playing host to Ambassador Terence McCulley. He added that one of the cardinal objectives of the Jonathan administration is job creation and employment generation. These pronouncements underscore Jonathan’s commitment to job creation.
It was the need for the Federal Government to create job opportunities that informed President Jonathan’s Economic Advisory Committee to take agriculture as a priority. The advantages of the policy option cannot be over-emphasized. It is a pro-poor growth initiative that is capable of generating employment, ensuring food security and production of locally sourced raw materials for industries. Whereas this policy helps to diversify the economy, the spill-over benefits of contributing to the GDP and foreign exchange cannot be over-emphasized. Mr. President can take this further by initiating the equivalent of President Obama’s JOB ACT to make it mandatory for private companies and multinational corporations to employ Nigerians who have the requisite skills, competences and capacity to contribute to the economy. What is clear is that president Goodluck Jonathan is deeply committed to tackling the menace of unemployment like never before.
Idumange John, is Deputy President, Niger Delta Integrity Group.
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