Ngige says Buhari's government not doing enough on unemployment

The Minister of Labour and Productivity, Dr Chris Ngige, believes that the Federal Government, led by President Muhammadu Buhari, needs to do more to curb the scourge of unemployment in the country.

While speaking last weekend at the College of Medicine, University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Ngige said Buhari's government is doing something about unemployment but has to do more, according to Daily Trust.

Ngige said the government is worried that unemployment is growing like a vicious disease that has given rise to a lot of anti-social behaviours.

He said a failure to combat unemployment would eventually consume the country with social unrest.

He said, "The symptoms are there. Boko Haram is a symptom of unemployment in Nigeria. IPOB is a symptom of unemployment and desperation and people getting frustrated.

"Same goes for banditry in the North West. Same goes for kidnapping all over the country. Avengers - the destruction of oil pipelines, OPC – all these are symptoms of very serious underlying disease condition called unemployment.

"All arsenals, everything will be put into place, so that we can fight unemployment. Otherwise, it will consume everybody. It will consume me and you, pressmen.

"It is already showing when you are on traffic and people are knocking on your car window to ask you to give them your phone.

"If you don't give them, they will attack you. That is the big malaise.

"One day, they will stop people from eating in their houses. They will knock and say, bring your food and let us share it.

"We don't want it to get to that. We have tried as a country."

Ngige further said the country was lucky that President Buhari was elected in 2015 because Nigeria was in a downward spiral economically, similar to what has happened in Venezuela.

He said all of the government's award of contracts for construction and infrastructural development will take into account on how many new jobs can be created for Nigerians.

"So, government for the next level will fashion out ways and means to deal with unemployment. We are doing something but I think what we are doing is not enough.

"Government has used diversification into agriculture to fight unemployment. Yes, it was successful where people agreed to turn themselves into farmers.

"We have also used ad-hoc procedures like Npower programme. It is like a drop of water in the ocean. We have employed through that process 500,000 people, about half a million.

"But we have those searching for white collar jobs in the neighbourhood of about 15 million. So, we have to do something; to teach people new vocations, new skills, so that not all will be going for white collar jobs.

"Even if you have a university degree, you can be taught some skills so that you employ yourself or even get employed somehow. So, we are going to do that or it is on the table," the minister said.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported last year that Nigeria's unemployment rate stood at 23.1% with millions unable to get jobs.