The Senate has asked the federal government to initiate a sustainable
unemployment fund for the payment of living stipends to unemployed
Nigerians until such persons secure employment.
Currently, millions of unemployed Nigerians do not get any kind of
benefits from the government.
The Federal Government has, however, initiated programmes like the
N-Power to reduce the number of unemployed in a country where the
unemployment rate was 23.1 per cent by the third quarter of 2018.
On Wednesday, the Senate also called on the federal, state, and local
governments to declare a state of emergency on the provision of
employment to Nigerian youth.
These were some of the resolutions taken by the Senate after it
deliberated on a motion on ‘Escalating rate of unemployment in the
country.’ The bill was sponsored by former Deputy Senate President,
Ike Ekweremadu.
Ekweremadu, who raised a Point of Order, complained that the large
number of various levels of graduates that Nigeria’s higher
institutions are turning out yearly, but cannot be absorbed by the
labour market, is a time bomb waiting to explode.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, had in April,
disclosed that Nigeria’s unemployment rate will reach 33.5 per cent by
2020.
A report by the National Bureau of Statistics in 2019 states that
Nigeria’s unemployment rate stood at 23.1 per cent of the workforce in
the third quarter of 2019.
Leading the debate, Mr Ekweremadu said any nation with such number of
unemployed, but employable youth population, is only sitting on a keg
of gunpowder.
The most pressing demand on the hand of every legislator and public
officer is the rising number of Curriculum Vitae and application for
employments from constituents and Nigerians, he said.
“A situation where every graduate has to queue up for job only in
government offices is an indication of the breakdown of the private
sector, which is the major driver of world economies.
“These energies and potential talents that are lying idle and wasting
away are usually misdirected toward many unprofitable and harmful
ventures and lifestyles,” he said.
The lawmaker said the high level of crime in any society is most times
related to the high rate of unemployment and it is one of the major
causes of the upsurge in Rural-Urban migration, which puts pressure on
facilities at the urban centres.
In his contribution, Smart Adeyemi (APC, Kogi West), said unemployment
is an issue that should be taken seriously.
One of the major achievements of the government, is the efforts of
President Muhammadu Buhari to make sure the iron and steel complex is
back to business, he said.
“Iron and steel complex alone is capable of employing 25,000 people,
today I doubt if they have up to 500 people at the iron and steel
complex Ajaokuta, it was abandoned by previous administrations.”
He added that banks have contributed in no small measure to the
problem of unemployment in Nigeria.
