Politics
Unemployment rate to reach 33.5% by 2020 — Ngige
Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, has revealed that unemployment rate in Nigeria will be at 33.5 per cent by 2020.
He made this disclosure suring a two-day workshop on “Breaking the Resilience of High Unemployment Rate in the Country”, on Thursday in Abuja.
According to him, the 2019 report of 23.1 per cent unemployment rate and underemployment of 16.6 per cent by the National Bureau Statistics (NBS) was alarming.
He said, “It is a worrisome status as the global poverty capital (World Bank, 2018); and concomitant high prevalence rate of crimes and criminality, including mass murders, insurgency, militancy, armed robbery, kidnappings and drug abuse, among others.
READ ALSO: Nigerian govt reveals plan to revisit power sector privatisation over DisCos’ poor performance
“As if this situation is not scary enough, it is projected that the unemployment rate for this country will reach 33.5 per cent by 2020, with consequences that are better imagined, if the trend is not urgently reversed.
“It is a thing of joy to note that Nigeria has not been resting on her oars over the years in terms of dedicated efforts to curb the unemployment problem,” he said.
The minister noted that various government social intervention programmes targeted at reducing youth unemployment and eradicating poverty have been implemented by different administrations since Nigeria gained independence.
He added that available records showed that between 1972 to date, about 14 different programmes were implemented, including the National Accelerated Food Production Programme (NAFPP), implemented between 1972 and 1973.
Others were the current National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) which hasn’t been ongoing since 2017, embedded in the National Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) 2017-2020.
However, he noted that despite efforts, unemployment rate and poverty levels are on steady paths of growth, indicating high resilience against the intervention efforts.
The minister said the purpose of the workshop was to find solutions to the alarming increase in unemployment rate over the years.
Join the conversation
Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism
Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.
As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.
If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.
Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.
INVESTIGATION: In Kwara, multimillion-naira milk processing plant is abandoned, converted to a chicken outlet
After the government spent millions of naira to establish a milk processing plant in Kwara State that would provided jobs...
SPECIAL REPORT: For Sokoto communities, promise of healthcare is akin to death sentence
In this story, ABDULRASHEED HAMMAD delves into the dire realities of Primary Health Care services in Sokoto State, shedding light...
ICYMI…SPECIAL REPORT: NNPCL hides behind PIA to frustrate disclosure, accountability
Nigeria’s major oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), in what appears to be a common practice of disregard...
INVESTIGATION: Multi-million naira Ekiti resort center remains uncompleted a decade after
The multimillion-naira project, expected to comprise recreational buildings, now consists of cassava farmland, a bush used for excretion, and a...
SPECIAL REPORT: Torturous experiences of students with disabilities in Oyo tertiary institutions
For students with disabilities in Oyo state-owned tertiary institutions, learning is a torturous and distressing experience, considering the building structures...