3 million jobs coming each year, Atiku promises; releases policy document

Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has promised to create three million jobs per year if elected in 2019.

Atiku, a former vice president made the promise in his policy document he released on Sunday.

The document is set for launch today (Monday) on Facebook as part of activities marking the beginning of the campaign season.

The policy document gave a 7-year timeline for the delivery of his campaign promises.

According to the former vice president, “Close to 16 million people are unemployed, nine million more than in 2014.

“Over two million new entrants join the labour force each year meaning the unemployed share of the labour force more than tripled in less than a decade: from 5.1% in 2010 to 18.8% in 2017

“Unemployment for women and young people is at 33%, 70% of unemployed youths are uneducated and unskilled.

“Creating jobs and economic opportunities for these people will be vital both for reducing the pool of easy recruits for violent groups and reducing underlying grievances that feed the conflict”.

Proferring a solution and what steps he will take to tackle the unemployment rate, Atiku said he will “Launch a new, more efficient, cost-effective and sustainable national Entrepreneurship Development and Job Creation Programme.

“Target the creation of up to three million self and wage-paying employment opportunities in the private sector annually.

“Target all categories of youth, including graduates, early school leavers as well as the massive numbers of uneducated youth who are currently not in schools, employment or training.

“Create incubation centres, clusters and industrial/commercial hubs to provide a marketplace for MSMEs and SMPs.

“Champion the repositioning and streamlining the activities of the existing Federal and State Government Job Creation Agencies”.

Read also: Buhari promises to remodel 10,000 schools every year if re-elected in 2019

Aside the creation of jobs, the PDP candidate also listed infrastructure development, human capital development and poverty eradication as other areas of priority, adding that he has plans to lift 50 million Nigerians out of poverty, by 2025.

He also restated his plans to privatise the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and also sell all four national refineries.

On infrastructure, Atiku said he plans to construct 5,000 kilometres of roads, and 5,000 kilometres of modern railway.

The Atiku campaign organization had said on Saturday that the decision to launch the policy document on social media was because of its intention to take their policy directly to Nigerians and to register Atiku’s belief that it would take the collective efforts of every Nigerian to rebuild the country.

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