LAGOS NOVEMBER 17The rising rate of unemployment in Nigeria has been traced to the anti-job creation policies of the government from the ICT sector to government direct employment, youth entrepreneurship scheme among others.
Nigeria with a population of 182,201,962, Nigeria is battling with 49.5 per cent youth unemployment rate as at second quarter 2016.
Experts and economic stakeholders who spoke Wednesday in Lagos at the #WorldStageEconomicSummit2016 with the theme: Addressing Unemployment Crisis in Nigeria, challenged the government to carry out a major review of its economic policies for them to be problem solving rather can creating more confusion.
Dr Femi Saibu of the Department of Economics, University of Lagos, Akoka, who presented a lead paper at the summit drew attention to the government policy on the ICT revolutions saying it was employment destructive and service oriented and not production/manufacturing sectors oriented.
On government direct employment policy, he said it only created temporary jobs not employment at a greater cost while the series of youth entrepreneurship scheme across the country including ‘You Win’, he said always ended up in creating social media entrepreneur with no employment multiplier.
Moreover, he said the Small and Medium Enterprises Credit Guarantee Scheme had failed to achieve its objective as the funds were difficult to access and politicized, while “people see it as share of national cake and generate little if all employment.”
At the summit organised by World Stage Limited (www.worldstagegroup.com) with support from the Central Bank of Nigeria, Shell Nigeria, United Bank for Africa, Bank of Industry and Zenith Bank, the scholar said what the country needed were large scale industrial set up that can mop up the thousand of unemployed youths.
He said the country needed the establishment of businesses with value chains in productive sectors with greater employment multiplier and government spending in key sectors to provide basic infrastructures that reduce cost of business.
“Not direct underemployment of youths in any disguise that create fiscal cliff,” he said.
“Innovations and technology that lead to higher productivities and not those that take jobs from men to machines.”
Other economic stakeholders who spoke at the summit chaired by Mr Soji Adeleye, MD/CEO, Alfe City Institution include, Mr. Mordecai Ladan, Director, Department of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Omolara Aromolaran, MD/CEO, Crown Natures Nigeria Plc , Dr. Gloria Elemo, Director General/CEO, Federal Institute of Industrial Research (FIIRO), Mrs Efua Edeh Executive Director, Junior Achievement Nigeria, Barrister Sunday Oduntan, Executive Director, Research & Advocacy, Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors, among others.