Senate raises the alarm over escalating unemployment

 
The Senate has raised the alarm over the escalating unemployment in Nigeria, calling on the federal, state and local governments to declare emergency on the state of joblessness in the country.

The upper legislative chamber also urged the federal government, through the Ministry of National Planning, to “put up mechanisms and programmes that would provide employment for our teeming unemployed graduates/youth at all tier of governments”, and called on the federal government to initiate a sustainable unemployment fund for the payment of living stipends to unemployed Nigerians until such persons secure any kind of employment.

The resolutions were sequel to a motion entitled “Escalating Rate of Unemployment in the Country” sponsored by former Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, Wednesday.

The lawmaker noted that the worsening unemployment statistics in the country during plenary, expressed concern that the large number of various levels of graduates churned out by various higher institutions of learning on annual basis, but who could not be absorbed by the labour market, were a time bomb waiting to explode.

He said: “Report published 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.

Statement credited to the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Sen.  Chris Ngige, and published by thePremium Times on 9th November, 2019 showed that Nigeria’s unemployment rate will hit 33.5 per cent by 2020.

“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 private sector, which is the major driver of world economy.”

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