Senate Wants Executive’s Roadmap On Strategy To Tackle Unemployment

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The Nigerian Senate has resolved to invite the Minister for Labour and Productivity, Dr. Chris Ngige, to provide insight into the government’s roadmap towards tackling unemployment in Nigeria.

The decision was reached on Tuesday when  a motion on the rising unemployment in Nigeria was raised during plenary.

In what lawmakers called, Intolerable Upswing of Unemployment in Nigeria, the motion raised by Senator Duro Faseyi, representing Ekiti North, drew comments from different lawmakers.

Senator Faseyi raised the alarm that the number of unemployed and underemployed rose from 24.4 million to 26.06 million in the second quarter of 2016.

Colossal Increase In Insecurity

Senator Faseyi says the worrisome and mind-boggling figures has created social tension and crisis, as unemployed graduates now involve in crimes.

He further cautioned that if urgent and results-oriented steps were not taken, there would be resultant colossal increase in strife and insecurity.

Senator Sabu Abdullahi in support of the motion lamented the poor financial backing to budgetary allocations of agencies such as National Directorate of Employment and Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria.

Senator Abdullahi added that the agencies were meant to help train graduates and facilitate employment opportunities.

Senator Emmanuel Bwacha told the Senate that the processes adopted for employment generation by the government were not the very best while Senators Joshua Lidani and Enyinnaya Abaribe also contributed to the issue.

Deputy Leader of the Senate Na’Allah spoke on the poor productivity of the employed ones while many unemployed graduates look for such opportunities.

Contributing to the motion, Senator Rose Oko, stressed the need to encourage agricultural and manufacturing industries.

The Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, said it was time to declare a State of Emergency on Unemployment, improve infrastructural development, take and address unemployment statistics and look at giving unemployment benefits to unemployed Nigerians.

After deliberations, the Senate then urged the executives to declare a State of Emergency on Unemployment, as a process of confronting the challenge frontally and radically.

The lawmakers also directed Ministries Department and Agencies, especially Security Parastatals, to enlist more youths towards enhancing security and to ease unemployment.

They further resolved to have a retreat on ways to ensure proper employment for Nigerian Youths and urged the executives to explore the Graduate Scheme of the IITA to ensure involvement and employment of youths.