Tag Archives: jobs

Senate resumes, begins work on bills to create 7.5m jobs

Posted on by
20

Eleven economic executive bills being considered by the Senate will create 7.5 million as recession-induced job losses persist, President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki…
If the lawmakers successfully pass the bills and things work according to the promise, Nigeria’s surging unemployment rate would be reduced.

Number of Nigerians without jobs rose for the seventh straight quarter to 13.9 percent in the third quarter of 2016 from 13.3 percent in the previous period. It was the highest level since 2009, as the number of unemployed rose by 5.2 percent to 11.2 million.

Unemployment rate measures the number of people actively looking for job as a percentage of the labour force. Current efforts at the National Assembly, if successful, will have reduced the number of the unemployed by more than 65 percent.

Lack of jobs averaged 9.52 percent from 2006 until 2016, reaching an all time high of 19.70 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009 and a record low of 5.10 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010.

Saraki yesterday said the 11 economic bills now receiving accelerated consideration by the lawmakers would help to create 7.5 million jobs and reduce poverty by 16.4 per cent when they become laws.

In his welcome address to the senators on resumption from their Christmas and New Year recess, he urged the relevant committees to speed up work on the priority bills so that they could be passed and submitted to the executive alongside the 2017 budget.

By prioritising the creation of jobs, the Senate has identified a major challenge facing the nation. Most other challenges like insecurity; poor choices by the electorate during elections and even lack of educational opportunities are tied to the economic circumstances of the majority of citizens.

Saraki also stated that the 2017-2019 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP) would be debated and passed this week to pave the way for the consideration of the 2017 Appropriation Bill, which he said would be debated next week.

The Senate president urged all heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA) to ensure a prompt submission of their annual budgets within the current budget cycle or risk waiting for the next fiscal cycle.

According to Saraki, “The average annual growth in jobs is estimated at approximately 7.55 million additional employments as well as an average of 16.42 per cent reduction in Nigeria’s poverty rate.

“Over the projected five-year period, it is suggested that the reforms, which these bills will engender, may add an average of N3.76 trillion to national incomes, (National Disposable Income was N85.62 trillion in 2014), equivalent to 4.39 per cent of 2014 figures.

He condemned the killings in southern Kaduna and said that the Senate would carry out a thorough investigation to unravel the issues and advise the executive appropriately.

Saraki stressed the need for the National Assembly to pursue and conclude the ongoing constitutional amendment. He said the Senate would henceforth not spare any organisation that tramples on rights of consumers in the country, adding that the “current situation where consumers’ rights are violated and treated with indignity must stop.”

On the power sector, Saraki said: “There had been errors in the privatisation process and the model by which the power sector is being operated—whether at generation or distribution—will never take us where we need to be.

Adopting a motion sponsored by Hope Uzodinma (PDP, Imo West) and co-sponsored by five others, the Upper Legislative Chamber summoned the Minister of Transportation, Mr. Chibuike Amaechi, Minister of State, Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr. Muhammad Bello.

Others invited include the Chief of Air Staff, Sadique Abubakar, officials of Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), as well as other stakeholders in the aviation sector.

This government created 200,000 jobs in one fell swoop – Lai Mohammed.

Posted on by
Reply

Lai Mohammed, minister of information and culture, says “corrupt elements” opposed to the change agenda are making government activities obscure to give the wrong impression that work hasn’t been going on.

According to Lai, the federal government, under President Muhammadu Buhari, has done so much, including the “unprecedented” creation 200,000 jobs “in one fell swoop”.

Mohammed said this on Thursday in Abuja at the launch of the Federal Government of Nigeria Information App (FGN IAPP), designed to provide real time information from the government to Nigerians at home and abroad.

He said the corrupt had chosen to fight the government with their ill-gotten wealth, by “distorting our messages and obfuscating our activities”.

“A government that has achieved the unprecedented feat of creating 200,000 jobs in one fell swoop cannot be said to have done nothing,” he said.

“A government that has liberated every inch of our occupied territory from Boko Haram and sent the terrorists fleeing should not be portrayed as not doing anything.

“A government that is surely and steadily making our country self-sufficient in staples such as rice and embarking on a massive infrastructural renewal cannot be said to be doing nothing

“A government that is boldly tackling an economic recession that was foisted on it by years of profligacy, lack of savings and a sudden crash on oil prices deserves accolades, not vilification.”

He added that the FGN IAPP will help to keep Nigerians and non-Nigerians better informed of the activities of the federal government as well as getting the necessary feedback.

“Irrespective of where you are in the world, from today all you needed to do is to download the FGN IAPP, and you will have access to factual and real time information on the activities of the federal government of Nigeria,” he said.

Mohammed said the ‘Be Inspired’ section of the App will make it possible for any Nigerian, irrespective of status, to meet top political, business, religious and other leaders.

He added that the App also provides a feedback section that allows anyone make his or her feelings known about any government policy or programmes.

LUK Will Create Jobs – Kwara State Government

Posted on by
Reply

The Kwara State government says its decision to embark on the streetlight project, LUK, is part of efforts to beef up security as well as create thousands of direct and indirect jobs across the metropolis.

 

Speaking during an interactive radio programme on Thursday, the State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Alhaji Mahmud Ajeigbe noted that the project will lead to a reduction of criminal activities, particularly at night.

 

He also explained that the project will be financed through a Public Private Partnership (PPP) over a period of 10 years, which according to him provides an affordable repayment for the State government. He noted that the government will start repayment after the streetlights have been tested and proven to be of the highest quality.

 

Alhaji Ajeigbe added that the contractors I will design, build, operate and maintain the project for the 10 years before they will now transfer it to the State government. On the London, Paris Club loan refund, Alhaji Ajeigbe said that the

 

Kwara State government is yet to receive any payment from the Federal Government, noting that the Federal Ministry of Finance is yet to announce the states that will be paid.

 

He, therefore, urged the public to disregard the internet rumours that the government has received the payment.

3,000 Workers Lose Jobs In Steel Sector– Union

Posted on by
Reply

The National Union of Iron and Steel Workers on Wednesday said 3,000 of its members lost their jobs in the last quarter of 2015 following closure of steel companies.

Mr Kasimu Kadiri, General Secretary of the union said in Lagos that the current economic recession had increased the number of unemployed people.

Kadiri was reacting to plans to shut the biggest pipe factory, SCC Nigeria Limited, due to the economic recession. The pipe factory inaugurated a 280,000- ton ultra modern steel pipe manufacturing in Oct, 2015 in Ushafa, Abuja.

However, after several months of staying idle, the government announced plan to close it due to low patronage. The union leader said continuous closure of steel companies had negatively affected the steel sector, especially its workers. He appealed to the government to stop importation of finished steel products to allow local production thrive.

“Government should also create an enabling environment for local producers to grow to reduce the number of unemployed people.

“We are equally appealing to the government to revisit the Ajaokuta agreement and restructure it to absorb people in the labour market”, he said.

Kadiri explained that the 7th Senate cancelled the agreement with Global Infrastructure on Ajaokuta Steel which later opted for litigation. He said the federal government should take advantage of the recent directive of the court that parties used

Credit:

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/11/3000-workers-lose-jobs-steel-sector-union/

How we’ll deal with fraudulent claims in N-Power jobs – Presidency

Posted on by
1

Over 90% of the 200,000 unemployed Nigerian graduates selected in the first batch of the N-Power Volunteer Corps, NPVC, have been verified using the Bank Verification Number, and any untrue information submitted in the process of application is a ground for disqualification.

This clarification was given Sunday by the Senior Special Assistant on Media & Publicity in the Office of the Vice President, Laolu Akande, while giving an update on the N-Power Volunteer Corps which is now advancing with assignment of beneficiaries to their places of deployments in their states of residence.

Mr. Akande, who referred to a BBC report last week regarding the testimonials of some of the selected Nigerian graduates noted that “it is most gladdening that those who were selected are now telling the stories of how they have not been employed for years, but now grateful to the President for this initiative.”

Some of them, he added, expressed satisfaction that even though they knew no one in government, they were selected for the paid volunteer job program, attesting to the transparency of the selection process.

Mr. Akande said that all the states and the FCT, through the focal persons they appointed, have since received the list of the 200,000, and now working on deploying the beneficiaries to their places of assignment.

He also explained that by using the BVN, which is one of the most viable means of identification in the country today, there is hardly any way anything fraudulent can sail through in the process.

“We are confident that the selection process, all the way through with BVN, and physical verification at the points of deployment in the states and the local government areas, are both transparent and impossible to abhor ghost beneficiaries, or any kind of fraud,” he said.

Mr. Akande said already 93% of those selected have been screened through the BVN, with the commendable assistance of the Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc, NIBSS, and only authentic and verifiable beneficiaries will be paid the N30,000 monthly stipends starting December.

Responding to reports about random searches conducted on social media platforms, the SSA dismissed them, saying such cannot be better than “biometric identification we have secured through the BVN.”

“Besides the BVN, there is going to be physical verification, through an in-built component in our selection system that requires that information submitted online during the application would have to be authenticated at the point of deployment across the country, including verification of academic credentials and residence status.”

According to him, just as is normal when someone gets a job or even admission to school, he or she would proceed to present papers that have been submitted during application for verification. “This is also going to be like that, so claims about some applicants claiming to be residents of states would be dealt with if it turns out such claims are false. If an applicant cannot supply proof of residence, the selection is terminated.”

Besides, he explained that in a local government such as Abadam in Borno State, where there have been claims that nonresidents applied and were selected, Akande assured that there is no cause for alarm because such people would have to show up for verification on the spot.

He added that there was also a likelihood that a number of applicants may have input Abadam inadvertently considering that Abadam LGA is number one on the list of LGAs under the list as posted on the N-Power portal. “There is a good chance,” he continued, “that some applicants may have failed to complete the forms online accurately.”

Such errors are being reviewed and anyone found not to be resident in the LGA would be removed and replaced using the waiting list of applicants.

Said he: “an important aspect of the application was that applicants were told in clear terms that any false information would be grounds for disqualification.”

On how the 200,000 people were selected, the SSA Media explained that the selection was not only fair and done transparently, but also with adequate care.

Firstly, 40% of those who applied for the N-Power Teach and Agric were selected, and 50% of those who applied for the Health category, all based on an assessment test.

Then to mitigate the adverse socio-economic circumstances in the North- East an additional 4800 applicants from the region were selected with Borno State getting 1200 and Adamawa, Yobe, Taraba 800 each and Bauchi and Gombe 600 each.

Also to bolster states with low application numbers, an additional 4208 was selected and shared between Bayelsa, Jigawa, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara States. The Federal Ministry of Agric also additionally allocated 6799 applicants in the Agric category to all states across specific crop, fish and livestock targets in order to support government’s self-sufficiency target in Agric produce.

Gender and disability factor were also key in the selection. 46% of those selected, Mr. Akande disclosed, are females, while a total of 1126 were successful applicants with disabilities.

Mr. Akande then assured that those not selected in the first batch are now in the waiting list until the subsequent batches when they would be considered again, since there are still 300,000 to be selected under this budget cycle.

On why the selection process was based on states of residence rather than states of origin, Mr. Akande simply noted that for example, over 42,000 Nigerians applied for the N-Power from Lagos but only 3568 of them originate from Lagos. “Would it then be tenable to say almost 40,000 Bona fide Nigerians who are applicants resident in Lagos should just forget it since they are resident but not origins of the Lagos State?

Over 4.5m Nigerians Jobless Since 2015 – KADCCIMA

Posted on by
22

Over 4.5 million Nigerians have become jobless since last year, adding 2.6 million to unemployment figures of 1.46 million recorded in the ?third quarter of 2015 and 518.102 in the fourth quarter of 2015, Kaduna Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (KADCCIMA) has disclosed.

The immediate past president of the KADCCIMA, Dr Abdul-Alimi Bello?, stated this in his welcome address delivered at the weekend on the occasion of the combined 41st and 42nd Annual General Meeting (AGM) and presentation of award of excellence to organizations and individuals.

The ceremony which took place at the Hamdala Hotel Kaduna also saw to the emergence of new leadership? with Dr. Muheeba H. Dankaka as the new President.?

Others are Dr. Aliyu Dikko, Alh. Suleiman Aliyu as first and second deputy President respectively while othe?r council members are Hon. Ishaya Idi?, Hajiya Rakiya Musa, Dr. Segun Falope, Alh. Tijjani Musa, Dr. David Obiora, Alh. Lawal Umar Mayere, Alh. Farouk Suleiman, Hajiya Fati Usman, Engr. Sunday G. Mshelia, Alh. Shehu M. Shitu, Mal. Gimba H. Ibrahim, Aliyu Mamman, KIFC Representative, BOA Representative, PAN Representative, Textiles Representative, Unity Bank Representative and NNDC Representative? who are to serve for two years term.

?Dr Bello further disclosed in his address that, “according to reports during the reference period, the unemployment in the labour market increased. By. 1,158,700. Persons resulting in an increase in the national unemployment rate to 13.3 percent in second quarter of 2016 from 12.1 percent in 2016, 10.4. Percent in 2015 from 9.9 percent in third quarter 2015 and from. 8.2 percent in 2015.

“The value of capital imported into Nigeria in the second quarter of 2016 was estimated. At. $647.1 million which represents a fall of 75.73 percent relative to the second quarter in 2015. This provisional figure would. Be the lowest level of capital imported into. Economy on record and. Would also represent the largest year on year decrease.

“During the period under review, there have been unprecedented job losses in most sectors of the economy. A challenging period from the oil sectors where companies have recorded inability to service debts and have embarked on mass retrenchment to the manufacturing sector where companies have embarked on. Job termination to reduce non business critical costs to banking where institutions have terminated the employment of over 5,000 workers this year alone in a. Bid to optimize operations.

“The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) reported that 58 members of the association had closed down due to the. Unavailability of raw materials, a fall out of forex restrictions from the federal government. The closures resulted in over 4.5 milliom workers being forced into redundancy.”

As a way forward, he suggested that the federal government must ensure that there is timely and transparent allocation of allocation of forex to manufacturers? to import spare parts and raw materials for production activities.

“Ensure effective patronage of locally manufactured goods as well as domestic service providers in all ramifications.

“Ensure prompt payment for goods. And services supplied to all MDAs? so as to speed up the deflation process in the economy and

“Ensure active promotion of PPP? for the. Envisaged infrastructure development by federal and state government.”

Volkswagen cuts 30,000 jobs in emission scandal cost-saving plan.

Posted on by
Reply

Volkswagen (VW) is to cut its workforce by 30,000 over the next five years as it acts to save costs following the diesel emissions scandal.

The German carmaker said it was committed to no compulsory redundancies under the union deal, with 23,000 of the positions to go at factories in its home market and the rest in North America and Brazil.

VW said the job losses were “socially acceptable” as it prepared to relaunch the brand by 2020 – tainted by the rollout of software in 11 million diesel vehicles that was designed to cheat emission testing.

At a news conference at the firm’s Wolfsburg headquarters, VW brand chief Herbert Diess said: “I am very sorry for those affected, but the situation of the brand at the moment gives us little room for manoeuvre.”

It has already set aside €18bn (£15.4bn) to cover costs associated with ‘dieselgate’ – the bulk of them in the US where the company has agreed a massive $15bn (£12.3bn) compensation and vehicle buy-back package.

It has pledged to fix all vehicles affected in Europe, including 1.2 million in the UK, by this time next year.

VW said its future plan would focus on new electric car technology – paid for through annual savings of €3.7bn (£3.2bn).

The bulk of the job losses would be achieved, VW said, through not replacing retirees or those leaving for new positions elsewhere.

The company added that it was creating 9,000 new positions through its focus on new technology which aimed to deliver 30 electric models by 2025.

It hopes the marked shift from traditional fuel-powered vehicles will help steal a march on rivals amid continued debate over the use of diesel – once hailed as the greener alternative to unleaded but now linked to thousands of deaths across the EU each year.

The emissions crisis hit VW sales – 10% down in the UK alone in the 12 months after it emerged – with the company reporting its first financial loss in over two decades last year.

FG employs 200,000 graduates, offers N30,000 monthly.

Posted on by
Reply

The Federal Government says it has employed 200,000 graduates who will work for only two years as teachers and agricultural extension workers throughout the country.

An online newspaper, The Cable reported that the new employees would be paid N30, 000 per month, which would be paid directly into their accounts.

Speaking in Abuja at the second presidential economic communication workshop organised by the office of the vice-president on Friday, the Senior Special Assistant to the VP on media and publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande, said out of the fresh employees, 150,000 would work as teachers while the remaining 50,000 would work as extension workers.

Meanwhile, the Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, who spoke at a colloquium on ‘The Way Forward for Nigeria’ in Lagos on Friday, said the employment of 200,000 persons is the first batch of the Volunteer Job Programme that is to commence in about two weeks.

Osinbajo said, “The delay is because we are trying to provide as many equipment as we require. We also want to ensure that we provide opportunities across the states. Close to a million registered; we should start with the first 200,000 in 14 days or thereabout. It is a temporary opportunity for young graduates.”

At the event, which was organised by Coalition of Nigerian Apostolic Leaders, the Vice-President said the government was trying to create jobs directly while creating space for more private sector activities to facilitate economic growth.

Recession: FCTA to create 10,000 jobs by 2020.

Posted on by
1

In line with one of the cardinal policies of the present administration, which is job creation and poverty reduction, the FCT Administration said that one of its targets is to create 10,000 jobs by the year 2020.

Speaking during the closing ceremony of the entrepreneurship and skills development programme, organised by the administration in conjunction with the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation in Abuja at the weekend, FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello said the gesture would reduce the high rate of unemployment and minimise the level of poverty in the territory.

According to him, “As an administration, our target is to create 10,000 jobs by the year 2020. In creating these jobs, we will support our people to generate wealth; thereby reducing the high rate of unemployment and minimizing the level of poverty in the territory.

“This stand is also in line with one of the cardinal policies of the government of our leader, President Muhammadu Buhari, which is Job creation and Poverty reduction.”

Represented by the managing director of the Abuja Enterprise Agency (AEA), Tukur Arabi, Bello also reiterated the commitment of the administration to improve the living standards of the residents of the territory by creating jobs and providing the desired enabling environment.

The minister who noted that the importance of the programme, stressed that empowering the citizens with relevant vocational skills would ensure that they gain technical know-how to operate their businesses and entrepreneurial skills.

The minister said that the training given by the facilitators whose in-depth knowledge in the various fields of entrepreneurships development have been imparted into the participants in the last two weeks will go a long way in making the beneficiaries to be productive in their respective trades.

Earlier in his remarks, the managing director of the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation, Dr. Shettima Aji–Ali, said the foundation was established in 2009 by friends, relations, associates and well-wishers of Sir Ahmadu Bello, the late Premier of the defunct Northern Region and Sardauna of Sokoto in collaboration with governments of the 19 northern states of Nigeria to promote the exemplary ideals and legacy of the late sage.

Dr. Aji–Ali on behalf of the board of trustees, advisory council and the management of the foundation, thanked the FCT minister for being one of the great supporters of the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation and the smooth take off and success of this training.

700,000 Apply For 500 FIRS Jobs

Posted on by
Reply

The Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service, Mr. Tunde Fowler, has said that the organisation received more than 700,000 applications from the recent job advert it placed.

Fowler made this known on Wednesday in Abuja when he appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Public Petition.

The FIRS boss’ appearance at the lower chamber followed a petition from some applicants, who claimed to have been excluded from the employment processes.

The Service had invited applications for various positions in series of adverts placed in some national dailies.

Fowler said that out of the 700,000 applicants more than 2,000 had first class degrees in various disciplines and were qualified to be engage by the Service.

He said that FIRS would recruit only 500 people, adding that the exercise was designed to increase manpower for tax revenue collection and expand the country’s revenue base.

He assured that the organisation would ensure fairness and due process in the recruitment process.

He said, “We have secured waiver and endorsement from the Federal Character Commission in order to ensure that the right thing is done.”

In his remarks, Chairman of the house committee, Mr.  Nkem Abonta, directed Fowler to submit to the committee the service’s nominal roll to assist it in arriving at a decision.

Credit: NAN

Governor Obiano Offers Automatic Employment to Physically Challenged Graduates

Posted on by
1

All physically challenged graduates of Anambra State origin have been offered automatic employment by Governor Willie Obiano as part of the state government’s determination to reduce their hardships.

Obiano, who spoke weekend through the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Solo Chukwulobelu during a cultural carnival for Anambra Central Senatorial District held at Agulu in Anaocha local government area in continuation of the Anambra@25 Silver Jubilee anniversary celebration, said the employment was in line with the stimulus package announced recently for the


people of the state.

Vanguard reports Chukwulobelu said:

“It is clear that any physically-challenged person who is a graduate of a higher institution has paid enough dues to better his lot.
Such a person has passed through a lot of hardship and therefore should not be allowed to continue to suffer “The governor has announced automatic employment for all physically challenged graduates.
This is not politics because we have also abolished collection of levies in all primary schools in the state.”

FG To Employ 200,000 Graduates In October

Posted on by
Reply

The Federal Government has announced on Tuesday that the implementation of its Social Investment Programmes would commence before the end of this month.

This, according to a statement issued in Abuja by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the Vice President, Mr Laolu Akande, is in fulfilment of the government’s campaign promises.

Mr Akande noted that the Vice President, Mr Yemi Osinbajo, confirmed that implementation plans for the effective commencement of a number of the Social Investment programmes of the Buhari presidency has reached advanced stages as the selection of the first 200,000 unemployed graduates to get jobs is now being completed.

According to the statement, Mr Osinbajo made this known while fielding questions in an interview with a small group of radio journalists and producers at the Presidential Villa.

“We expect that before the end of the month, we will engage 200,000 out of the 500,000 unemployed graduates the Buhari administration plans to hire in the N-Power jobs programme.

“The direct government jobs are meant to keep these young people occupied, pay them some amount of money and also give them a device, which will also help them to learn several skills that they can develop as time goes on.

“We expect that before the end of this month, we should have engaged 200,000 of them and we are hoping that before the end of the year we should have engaged more,” the statement quoted Mr Osinbajo as saying.

The Vice President explained that on the Home-Grown School Feeding programme, this will kick off in several states by the end of October.

“Definitely before the end of this month, we expect that several states would have come on stream with their Home-grown School Feeding Programmes.

“This will energise agriculture in the different states because it is what you plant that you feed the children with, we will be hiring caterers, cooks, etc in each state because it will be Federal Government funded from Primaries 1-3 and the state governments hopefully would be able to cater for the other classes,” Osinbajo was further quoted as saying.

FG begins shortlisting candidates for 500,000 jobs – Minister

Posted on by
1

The Federal Government has commenced shortlisting candidates for the 500,000 jobs it promised.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja when a delegation of the National Council for Women’s Societies paid him a courtesy visit in his office.

Mohammed said that applications were being received and government had started processing them for the recruitment.

He said: “The process for the recruitment has started.

“About 1.2 million people applied and they classified them into categories, including agriculture support officers, teachers, technical officers and so on.”

The minister also said that the payment of N5,000 conditional cash transfer promised by the government would begin before the end of the month.

He said the Minister of Finance, Dr. Kemi Adeosun, had earlier announced this.

Mohammed reiterated the commitment of the government to improving the well-being and standard of living of the citizens.

He said: “We are very concerned about the welfare of Nigerians and we are not sleeping; we are working day and night to ensure that the country retraces its step.

“Many of our critics have been unfair to us because many of them know that we did not invent the problems we are facing today.

“This is time to join hands together to support the government to move the nation forward.”

The National President of NCWS, Gloria Shoda, expressed the confidence in the resolve of the government to implement programmes for the advancement of girls and women in the society.

Shoda drew the attention of government to its promise of providing free maternal and children health care and implementation of the National Gender Policy.

Shoda also appealed to government to consider scholarship for girls pursuing medical courses in the universities to address maternal and child mortality.

Recession: 19,000 Public Sector Jobs Lost In 6 Months- NBS

Posted on by
1

No fewer than 18,919 Nigerians lost their jobs in the  nation’s public sector between October 2015 and March 2016, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.
Although about 5,867 new public sector jobs were generated between October and December 2015, the bureau said about 10,155 jobs were lost during the period in the public sector of the federal, state and local governments.
This translates to a negative employment generation figure of -4,288.
Also, while about 5,726 jobs were created between January and March 2016 in the public sector, the bureau said about 8,764 jobs were lost during the period, with a negative employment generation figure of -3.038 for the period.
The bureau, which reported a sharp decline of 84.1 per cent in total employment against the figure in the last quarter of 2015, said only about 79,469 jobs were generated in the economy in the first three months of 2016, against about 499,521 jobs created during the corresponding period of 2015.
The agency said in its quarterly job creation survey in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), that the figure was 83.1 per cent lower than the 389,605 jobs created in the corresponding period last year.
“This sharp decline in employment generation in the first quarter of 2016 is strongly correlated to the weakening economic output within the period, where the Nigerian economy recorded a negative growth of -0.36 per cent,” the statistics agency said.
An analysis of the jobs created for the quarter showed that 21,477 came from the formal sector, consisting formal professional services with less than 10 employees.
About 61,026 jobs came from the informal sector in the first quarter, made up of mainly low skill, low paying blue collar jobs in agriculture, light manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade businesses.
The NBS said the drop by 27,246 in formal employment in the last quarter of last year and 21,477 in the first quarter of 2016 across all the economic activities was as a result of the slowing down of economic activities in the wake of the economic recession.
With the economy fully in recession a following recent formal confirmation by the NBS, analysts say the employment situation would likely worsen, except government took steps to spend on strategic capital infrastructure to reflate the economy.
The Lead Director, Centre for Social Justice (CENSOJ), Eze Onyekpere, said declining employment figures in an economy in recession was not surprising, as firms are closing up and reducing their workforce in the face of declining Gross Domestic Products (GDP) and high inflation.

Read More:

http://sunnewsonline.com/recession-19000-public-sector-jobs-lost-in-6-months/

How Godwin Emefiele Caused Millions Of Nigerians To Lose Their Jobs

Posted on by
1

The direct policies of the central bank of Nigeria, CBN have been and continue to be at the helm of the current economic crisis and recession that is permanently and irreversibly destroying life and hope for the Nigerian masses. We have repeatedly pointed out these cabal-favorable, masses-exterminating policy decisions that have gotten Nigeria to this point. As support is lost, our teachers are resorting to stealing and the weak are taking their own lives. 4.6 million jobs have been lost according to the National Bureau of Statistics. This is catastrophic!

 

In January this year, in my article, “FOREX: Nigeria’s Economic Catastrophe From Godwin Emefiele’s Prison Economics,” I warned that due to unreasonable policies suddenly limiting Nigerians’ access to dollars, tens of thousands of businesses will fold up. I highlighted that business mogul, Leo-Stan Ekeh predicted the collapse of 99% of Nigerian businesses due to CBN forex policies. In April this year in an interview with the Tribune, I again raised the same concerns.

 

Cabal Favorable, Masses Exterminating Policies

 

The cabal are the smallest employers of labour in Nigeria. The government employs about 10% of labour. Big business employs a paltry 9% of labour while small businesses (Small and Medium Enterprises, SMEs) are the largest employers, employing over 75% of labour. You kill small businesses, you kill the country. It’s as simple as that not just in Nigeria but across the world. Godwin Emefiele with the apparent blessing of President Muhammadu Buhari protected and promoted the cabal who continued to declare juicy quarterly profits while they killed SMEs.

 

Small businesses employ over 100 million Nigerians while the cabal industries collectively hire less than a million. Atiku Abubakar recently touted that he is Nigeria’s largest employer. “I employ 50,000 Nigerians” he bragged. This is how minuscule the numbers employed by the chronically government-favoured big corp. are. Those Buhari in his AlJazeera interview promised will get exclusive access to CBN subsidized dollars employ less than 9% of labour. The cabal-protective policies as enforced by the CBN had one predictable outcome as Leo Stan had warned: death of small businesses and mass unemployment. Millions of us small-scale employers who were suffocated, packed up, and threw our employees onto the streets. 4.6 million without jobs and a means of survival in times of hiked fuel prices and inflation were the result.

 

Godwin Was Busy Dashing Dangote $100 Million According to Reuters

 

Reuters in a recent article by Ulf Laessing and Himanshu Ojha, revealed how Godwin dashed Dangote $100 million dollars within a year under Buhari’s new government. Dangote got one in nine dollars the central bank sold, at sometimes one in eight, the report stated. Similarly a handful more fellow cabal got the bulk of the rest of the half-price government-subsidized dollars that the masses were deprived of even for importing their petrol (thereby leading to an unbearable price hike). We are talking about hundreds of millions of dollars given to a few dozen Nigerians.

 

At this time small businesses/businessmen were not only limited in amount of dollar they could purchase with prison-like restrictions suddenly imposed by banks on order of the CBN and against the constitution, but they were never allowed the advantage the Dangotes were accorded to even occasionally purchase 197-rate dollars. SMEs were thrown to the blackmarket and even then, tightly limited in what they could transfer for purchasing their goods and raw materials. As former CBN governor Soludo criticized, sudden unreasonable import ban lists by the apex bank before local availability was established put more nails in the coffin. Whereas, promoting small scale local manufacture should have been done by subsidies and other encouragement methods to preserve businesses during a needed foreign-dependence transition.

 

In November last year, Soludo is quoted to have summarized,“For the better part of this year, the external shocks to the economy have been complicated or accentuated by a gamut of the “tried and failed” command and control policy regime: de facto fixed exchange rate, largely fixed CBN monetary policy rate, crude capital controls, veiled form of import bans through a long list of ‘ineligible for foreign exchange’, de facto scrapping of domiciliary account established by law, etc. At first, I thought this was the usual kneejerk response of policymakers to a ‘sudden’ shock. We tried a milder variant of this for a few months during the 2008/2009 unexpected/unprecedented global crisis (with global liquidity squeeze and massive capital flight) but even then, it was communicated as a ‘short-term crisis response’ and it was quickly dismantled. We now know what works and what doesn’t even at a time of crisis.”

 

As has been chronic of Nigeria where big businesses get billions of dollars in waivers, they continued to get billions in subsidized dollars, while the largest employers of labour, SMEs continued to be further crippled by the Buhari government. They died.

 

In return, of course the masses got Dangote and co’s charities. Donations of trucks of food. This chronic government SME crippling, cabal favoritism is what US inteligencia calls the Dangote “beggar-thy-countrymen” model. The cabal then sponsor politicians and the deadly cycle continues cycle after cycle. It was he same in the US during the robber baron era before the labour union riots.

 

We could have suggested other alternatives that would have protected Nigeria. Rather than subsidize Dangote and co alone, if Buhari had kept his promise to encourage mushroom refineries in the Niger Delta for instance, these could have been built on a franchise template with each community given shares in a small-scale refinery. These community projects should have gotten the $100s of millions gifted to Dangote and the other cabal for their personal projects. This would have not only provided a stimulus for a wide-spread growth of real jobs across localities but it would also discourage terror in the Niger Delta while addressing the local manufacturing problem. Several similar citizen-friendly policy choices could have salvaged the largest employers of labour and the larger nation instead of saving only the cabal.

 

Again, for too long, Godwin Emefiele rejected our better advise to devalue the already devalued Naira. Keeping a duplicity in prices to enable the amassing of billions by his private sector billionaire friends at the expense of the masses. The rich got richer.

 

Today the CBN under Godwin Emefiele continues to manipulate the dollar (availability) figures to satisfy his cronies, akin to “inside trading.” Nigeria is in the hands of Jim’s boy, described by many as one of the worst crooks at the center of the Jonathan era of gravid corruption. Indeed the CBN governor is as implicated as Dasuki in the open astronomical looting of Nigeria’s treasury. It is immoral to continue with such at the helm. Nigeria’s fall into recession is the direct consequence of this violation of the trust given to the new administration.

 

Ultimately the buck rightly stops at the president’s table. While we cannot deny the president’s role in the job killing policies of central bank under governor Godwin Emefiele, it is more useful to directly underline the failure of this highly autonomous department. Hence the article heading. President Buhari unlike his predecessor has disappointed Nigerians by not even portraying the slightest posture of a wish to sack the CBN governor or get him investigated and prosecuted. I would not encourage the accusations that the media exposed nepotism by the apex bank has something to do with Buhari’s acceptance of the man who opened Nigeria’s vaults for Jonathan and company to steal the nation dry.

 

Senator Ben Murray Bruce tweeted, “It is called the Central Bank of Nigeria not the Central Bank of Rich and Powerful Nigerians. This nepotism must be investigated & punished!” It wasn’t, but rather the central bank since continued favoring the rich and connected and overseeing the loses of millions of jobs for Nigeria’s dying masses.

 

Dr. Peregrino Brimah; @EveryNigerian

This piece was written by Dr. Peregrino Brimah. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of omojuwa.com

Source: 360NOBS

FG Set To Create 6000 Jobs

Posted on by
1

The Federal Government is set to create 6000 direct new jobs as part of efforts to commemorate this year’s International Youth Day, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Youth and Student Affairs, Nasir Sa’idu Adhama, said in Abuja yesterday.
Adhama said government was establishing textile clusters within the six geo-political zones where 1000 unemployed youths from each zone would be trained and provided facilities like sewing machines, fabrics and other equipment.

The training which is set to take off in the next 60 days, seeks to engage 6000 youths who will be trained, while those already trained will be retrained.
“What we are looking at is after the training, state governments will provide the beneficiaries with opportunities to sew school uniforms for primary and secondary school students in the states. This will take away negative thoughts and idleness from them,” he said.
He urged all stakeholders to focus on the role of youths in ensuring poverty eradication and achieving sustainable development.

Credit: dailytrust

Dangote To Create 210,000 Agriculture Jobs

Posted on by
Reply

Dangote Group of Companies on Tuesday said the organisation would create 210,000 jobs for the unemployed Nigerians in agriculture between now and 2018 in agricultural sector.

The Chairman of the Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, said this in Katsina in a goodwill message at the opening of Katsina Economic and Investment Summit.

“We will create 210,000 jobs between now and 2018 with 80 per cent coming from the agricultural sector.

“So, we should pay attention to the agricultural sector for investment opportunities, particularly when the crude oil is now becoming unreliable,’’ he said.

He said Brazil, which had same peculiarities with Nigeria, had $350 billion in its foreign reserve. adding that 80 per cent of the fund was from agriculture.

“Brazil is now a leading producer of sugarcane, soya beans, wheat and poultry in the World,’’ he said.

Dangote also said that he would establish the largest single refinery with the capacity to produce 650,000 barrels per day and two subsea pipelines of 550 kilometers in Delta, Ogun and Lagos.

The chairman said that he would assist government to reduce pipeline vandalism as well as provide 12,000 megawatts of power.

He called for the creation of enabling environment for investors by identifying areas with comparative advantages.

“You don’t need to call for investors, just create enabling environment for the local ones, you will see the foreign ones gate crashing,’’ he said.

 

(NAN)

Firm Plans 500,000 Jobs, 50 Megawatts Of Electricity

Posted on by
1

A foremost international solar energy company, Asteven Solar Nigeria, has promised to create 500, 000 direct jobs by accelerating access to affordable power solutions to old and existing small and medium scale enterprises across the country through specially designed channels.

The company’s managing director and chief executive officer, Dr Sunny Akpoyibo, while speaking with newsmen in Ibadan on the sidelines of the Nigeria Energy Forum 2016, said the company had concluded arrangements to generate for Nigeria, a total of 50 megawatts of electricity through solar energy over the next two years.

He explained that portable solar systems of different capacities would supply power needs to existing SMEs.

Credit: Leadership

6.17m Jobs Created By N1.5trn CBN Intervention Fund

Posted on by
Reply

Recent data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has shown that it created about 6.17 million jobs through the various intervention funds to different sectors of the economy.

According to the data, the combined impact of the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund (ACGSF) flagged-off in April 1978 and the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS) established in 2009, have led to the creation of 6,178,132 in the Nigerian economy.

A breakdown of the figure showed that the CBN had set up eight intervention funds totalling N1.57 trillion, from which economic operators accessed N819.164 billion to resuscitate their businesses that helped to sustain some sectors.

In 2009 however, the bank, through its CACS set up N200 billion intervention fund. As of today, a total of N337.635 billion was disbursed and a  total of N137.804 has been repaid.

The fund financed a total of 423 projects and generated a total of 1,132, 232 jobs while saving the investors interest payment of N42.564 billion. The data further showed that CBN’s ACGS set up in 1978 with N3 million as seed money had disbursed a total of N97.014 billion out of which N67.014 billion was repaid. The intervention granted loan facility of 1,009,180 and has so far generated a total of 5,045,900 jobs.

The CBN evaluation data showed that the Small, Medium Enterprise Credit Guarantee Scheme set up by the apex bank in 2010 had as its seed money the sum of N300 billion. So far, N4.219 billion has been disbursed while 2.439 billion has been repaid. The intervention fund financed 87 projects.

It also showed that the apex bank set up in 2014 the RSSF facility of N300 billion, out of which N3.5 billion has been disbursed for a single project  Also in 2010, the apex bank set up the Power and Aviation Intervention Fund of N300 billion. So far, a total of N255 billion has been disbursed and N69.755 billion repaid. The fund has financed 56 projects. The bank, they said, has three other funding for which about N450 billion was set aside and several projects have benefited from the intervention funding.

This is coming on the heels when the CBN has solicited the support of all Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) in Nigeria, to create at least one million employment opportunities for young graduates in 2016.

The job creation initiative, according to the apex bank, will be in form of support from both CBN, Nigerian banks and development institutions in terms of giving out cheap and concessionary loans to companies that are in the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

Credit: Sun

Pizza Hut UK Mocks Kanye West’s Debt Rant, Offer Him A Job

Posted on by
1

These people have no chill.. lol. After Kanye West announced he was $53million in debt in a string of social media posts, writing: “I write this to you my brothers while still 53 million dollars in personal debt… Please pray we overcome… This is my true heart…” People had different reactions to his tweet. Pizza Hut UK’s official Twitter page came out with their own reaction by offering Kanye a job, lol. Read the tweets below:

Their Twitter page wrote: “Stop telling everyone you need dough and try kneading some dough. We got your C.V. today. You start at 9am tomorrow.”
After Kanye wrote: “But I need access to more money in order to bring more beautiful ideas to the world,” they responded: “We’re sorry Kanye. We just can’t accept this. Please give us a call.”

Alongside it was a mocked up CV, with his “skills” including “rapping, fashion design, keeping straight face, being the greatest, and album cover design”.

His “experiences” included “rapping, fashion design, making the best shoes ever, Glastonbury 2015, sit ups, and baggy pants.”
Finally, his references included God, Taylor Swift, Kanye, Kim and North West – with a huge cross through Taylor’s name.

No chill, lol.

How FG Intends To Generate 1 Million Jobs In 2016

Posted on by
2

In its bid to tackle unemployment as one of its major achievements this year, the Federal Government is targeting the provision of over one million jobs. In his 2016 budget presented to the joint session of the National Assembly last Tuesday, President Muhammadu Buhari emphasised his determination to tackle unemployment. His words: “As we focus on inclusive growth, we are conscious of the current rate of unemployment and underemployment. This is a challenge we are determined to meet; and this budget is the platform for putting more Nigerians to work.

I can assure you that this administration will have a job creation focus in every aspect of the execution of this budget. Nigeria’s job creation drive will be private sector led. We will encourage this by a reduction in tax rates for smaller businesses as well as subsidized funding for priority sectors such as agriculture and solid minerals”. According to the president, as an emergency measure, to address the chronic shortage of teachers in public schools across the country, we also will partner with State and Local Governments to recruit, train and deploy 500,000 unemployed graduates and NCE holders.

These graduate teachers will be deployed to primary schools, thereby, enhancing the provision of basic education especially in our rural areas. He added that the government intends to partner with State and Local Governments to provide financial training and loans to market women, traders and artisans, through their cooperative societies. We believe that this segment of our society is not only critical to our plan for growing small businesses, but it is also an important platform to create jobs and provide opportunities for entrepreneurs. Besides, he said through the office of the Vice President, the government is working with various development partners to design an implementable and transparent conditional cash transfer program for the poorest and most vulnerable.

His words: “This program will be implemented in phases. Already, the compilation of registers of the poorest persons is ongoing. In the coming weeks, we will present the full programme, which will include our home-grown public primary school feeding and free education for science, technology and education students in our tertiary institutions. Indeed, this will mark a historic milestone for us as a nation. Also, Transport Minister, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, declared that the federal government will embark on a massive railway infrastructure development across the country, and that about 250,000.

Credit: DailyTimes

CBN Forex Policy: Over 40,000 Nigerians To Lose Jobs – Analysts

Posted on by
Reply

…Over 40, 000 Nigerians to lose jobs

The federal government’s drive to create jobs for millions of unemployed Nigerians may suffer a huge set back following the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) recent directive excluding some essential raw materials from the list of items valid for forex in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange (forex) markets. According to business analysts, this move will in no time lead to the lay-off of over 40, 000 Nigerians who work in the manufacturing sector.

It will be recalled that the CBN recently excluded some essential raw materials from the list of items valid for forex in the forex markets. According to the CBN, the policy is intended to sustain the stability of the foreign exchange market, “resuscitate local manufacturing” and change the structure
of the economy.

Reacting on the looming danger as a result of the policy, president, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Alhaji Remi Bello, said most manufacturers might be forced to shut down and move their operations to neighbouring countries for business activities due to their inability to access foreign exchange for raw materials and other critical inputs. This, he believes, would lead to massive job loss in the manufacturing sector.

“There is pressure on manufacturers to lay off their workforce before the end of the year. Most manufacturers affected have been unable to produce lately due to lack of foreign exchange, delays in the processing of Form ‘M’ to import raw materials in order to meet demands and this has adversely led to loss of market share.

With this continuing, massive job loss is anticipated in no time from now,” he said.

For example, the manufacturing sector using Crude Palm oil as raw material in their daily production of goods like biscuits, noodles, cosmetics among others will be affected as the locally produced and supplied raw material cannot meet the required demand for production.

According to IndexMundi, a data portal, the domestic palm oil produced totalled 930,000 MT in 2014, while the consumption of palm oil in Nigeria amounts to 2.0 million MT per annum in exclusion of the manufacturing sector.

The official figures states that the shortage in oil palm industry is estimated to be around 1.07 million MT annually. This poses a very precarious situation for the manufacturing sector that depends largely on CPO as a major source of raw material. If this shortage is not filled with importation of high quality food grade palm oil, the economy will lose further investment in the manufacturing sector as companies would shut down and staff laid-off.

Among the 41 items marked as ‘Not Fit for Forex’ also include: rice, cement, margarine, meat and processed meat products, vegetables and processed vegetable products, Poultry chicken, eggs, turkey, Private airplanes/jets, Indian incense, Tinned fish in sauce(Geisha)/sardines, Cold rolled steel sheets, Galvanized steel sheets, Roofing sheets, Wheelbarrows, Head pans, Metal boxes among others.

The resultant effect of this is an outrageous increase in the cost of these items locally for consumers and ultimately inflation, which is largely due to inability to access foreign exchange.

The LCCI president further lamented that, for an economy that is largely driven by the private investors, the government should source for alternative means rather than resorting to a total exclusion of certain items from the foreign exchange market.He however urged the FG to prevail on the CBN to review the policy in the interest of the workforce, the private sector and the economy at large.

Source: Vanguard

More On Obama’s Speech During AU Visit

Posted on by
Reply

Closing a historic visit to Africa, President Barack Obama on Tuesday urged the continent’s leaders to prioritize creating jobs and opportunity for the next generation of young people or risk sacrificing future economic potential to further instability and disorder.

He said the “urgent task” of generating jobs for a population that is expected to double to around 2 billion people in the coming decades will be “an enormous undertaking.” But he said it can be achieved with U.S. help.

“Africa will need to generate millions more jobs than it is doing now,” Obama said in a speech to the entire continent delivered from the headquarters of the African Union, a member organization of African nations. “And time is of the essence.”

“The choices made today will shape the trajectory of Africa — and therefore the world — for decades to come,” said Obama, who is seen by the people of Africa as one of their own. It was the first speech to the AU by a sitting American president.

The speech marked the end of Obama’s five-day visit to Africa that included an earlier stop in Kenya, homeland of his late father.

Obama also called on Africa’s leaders to make their countries more attractive to foreign investment by cleaning up corruption, upholding democratic freedoms, supporting human rights, and willingly and peacefully leaving office when their terms expire.

Obama, who is more than halfway through his second and final term, said “I just don’t understand” the phenomenon of leaders who refuse to step aside when their terms end. He referred to Burundi’s leader, who was just elected to a controversial third term although he is constitutionally limited to two. The announcement that President Pierre Nkurunziza was seeking a third term sparked days of unrest across the country.

“There’s still so much I want to get done to keep America moving forward. But the law is the law and no one is above it, not even presidents,” Obama said. “And, frankly, I’m looking forward to life after being president. It will mean more time with my family, new ways to serve, and more visits to Africa.”

He called on the AU to use its authority to help make sure African leaders stick to their term limits and follow their constitutions. “No one should be president for life,” said Obama, who leaves office in January 2017.

Africa’s progress will also depend on security and peace, since businesses and wealthy people won’t want to invest in unsafe places, the president said.

He pledged continued U.S. training assistance and other support in the fight against terrorism carried out across the continent by groups like al-Qaida, the Islamic State, al-Shabab and Boko Haram. He said the world must do more to help, too, and announced that he will host a summit at the United Nations in September to secure additional support for international peacekeeping, including in Africa.

Obama said Africa’s impending population boom could bring tremendous opportunities for the continent on the one hand.

“On the other hand,” he said, “we need only look to the Middle East and North Africa to see that large numbers of young people with no jobs and stifled voices can fuel instability and disorder.”

Before addressing the AU, Obama highlighted his administration’s efforts to combat hunger by touring a Faffa Foods factory that participates in the U.S. Feed the Future program. The initiative focuses on helping smaller farmers in 19 countries, including Ethiopia and 11 other African nations, expand their businesses.

Read More: AP

El Rufai Removes LG Treasurers, Orders Ghost Workers Fished Out

Posted on by
Reply

Governor Nasir El-Rufa’i of Kaduna State on Monday removed all local government treasurers and Directors of Personnel Management (DPM) in the councils in the state.

The governor also directed the chairmen, caretaker committees for local government councils in the state to fish out “ghost workers” at all cost.

El-Rufa’i, who gave the directive while swearing in 23 local government caretaker chairmen, however, said the treasurers and DPMs would be reassigned.

The governor, who assured that the state government would no longer tamper with local council funds, ordered the caretaker chairmen to reside within their local governments or be removed.

He warned that henceforth, councils must operate within their means, stressing that the state government would no longer use funds meant for another local government to service others.

“If your internally generated revenue and federation account allocation cannot pay your salary, you must do what you need to do so as not to have more people than you need,” he said.

The governor directed the caretaker chairmen to work closely with the traditional institutions to tackle crime and violence in their areas.

He added that “as soon as you settle down, we want you to document all encroachments into public land.

“Any encroachment on school land, hospital and public institutions should be documented and report back to us within two weeks.

“This government will not accept encroachment into school or hospital land, it is our intention to reverse all those encroachments.”

El-Rufa’i said the state government had articulated and integrated rural and community development programmes under the Deputy Governor which all local councils must hook on to “in an interconnected and integrated manner.”

The governor also told the council bosses that the All Progressives Congress (APC) had identified 10 priority areas in each local government which they must concentrate on.

He advised them to set up water and sanitation departments in their areas to promote healthcare and to protect forests to ensure healthy environment and encourage use of sustainable energy.

He then urged local council officials to work for the collective interest of the people and eschew “any god father, ward, ethnic group or religious persuasion.”

NLC, TUC Vow To Hold Buhari, APC Accountable To “3 Million Jobs A Year” Pledge

Posted on by
34

The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and the Trade Union Congress, TUC, on Friday in Abuja vowed to hold the incoming Muhammadu Buhari-led government accountable in respect of his party’s promises to Nigerians and workers in particular.

Mr. Buhari was elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The unions made the vow at the 2015 May Day celebration with the theme: “The Working Class, Democratic Consolidation and Economic Revival: Charting the Way to National Rebirth”.

The NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, urged the incoming administration to revive the Ajaokuta Steel complex, saying the plant was conceived to be the cornerstone of Nigeria’s industrialisation programme.

“Unfortunately, our political class has refused to accept the simple truth that no country can truly industrialise without iron and steel industry.

“The fate of Aladja, Osogbo, Jos and Katsina steel rolling mills post-privatization is too grim to recall here”, Mr. Wabba said.

Mr. Wabba advised the government which is to be inaugurated on May 29, to view development from the prism of tapping into the abundant economic potential offered by the entrepreneurial drive of Nigerians.

He said that resources were locked up in the soil and that any country “subserviently” reliant on importation, was only exporting jobs.

While urging the president-elect to pay attention to agriculture as it has the capacity to employ millions of Nigerians, Mr. Wabba said the government must also lead the way by making farming attractive to young people through the provision of agricultural inputs, equipment and other relevant infrastructure.

“There is also the need to establish a strong linkage between different sectors of our economy, especially with regard to promoting industrialisation and manufacturing.

“This will focus on turning our agricultural products and other natural resources into quality semi-processed and fully processed goods”.

On the issue of unemployment, he noted that the incoming administration had promised to create three million jobs yearly.

“Our leadership will take up all levels of government on their commitment to job creation and will not relent till we see tangible results on these scores”, he said.

He noted that the prevailing economic crunch and the devaluation of the naira has eroded the purchasing power of the Nigerian worker.

“The National Minimum Wage of N18, 000 that was negotiated in 2010 is clearly no longer of any meaningful economic value to workers.

“The five-year circle for periodic review of the National Minimum Wage is at hand.

“We wish to use this May Day celebration to give formal notice that we shall table a request for a new minimum wage for consideration soon after the new administration is sworn in”, he said.

The NLC president advised state governments and other employers of labour yet to discharge their obligations under the current national minimum wage regime to do so immediately as they were breaking the law by not complying with the provisions of the 2011 National Minimum Wage Act.

On his part, Bobboi Kaigama, the President of TUC, called the attention of the incoming government in the areas of economy, national security, anti-corruption war, national unity and cohesion, among others.

Mr. Kaigama said if the president-elect must succeed, his administration must be quick to reverse the present ratio between capital and recurrent expenditure.

#INSIGHTWITHLARIGOLD: Technology Versus Man By @Lanre_Olagunju

Posted on by
1

Insight pix

Economic advancement has always been a function of being able to provide improved goods and services at a faster rate with fewer workers. And to a large extent, technology has been a vital tool for economic progression. It’s undeniable that technology has greatly improved how business is done. Unfortunately as well, technology has resulted into disregarding the need for monotonous task and the people who carry them out, leading to freeing-up of so many jobs. MacAfee once pointed out that “certain kinds of document examination once done by armies of lawyers—can now be done competently by scanning technologies and software.” This implies that not only labour intensive jobs are being threatened.

The influx of technology in production is gradually annulling the conventional believe that increase in production instantly results into job creation. And sadly, many of the lost jobs aren’t immediately replaced with enough newer and higher skilled jobs to make up for the loss. Isn’t the Luddite fear of machines replacing people gradually becoming a reality? American entrepreneur and software engineer, Marc Andreessen didn’t mince words when he said “Software is eating the world. Industry after industry is being disrupted by software, and if your industry hasn’t been transformed into a software business, you’d better start worrying now.”

Without any iota of doubt, technology, especially information technology has greatly helped in creating amazing opportunities which aren’t restricted to walls or boundaries. But studies have revealed that IT is basically favouring only 1% at the top of the pyramid while draining opportunities at the lower level most especially in the area of job creation. And come to think of it multi billion dollars information technology companies don’t essentially employ a large number of people. Twitter, with a financial worth of over $8 billion employs about 650 workers, Facebook with an estimated $3.7 billion in revenue and $1 billion profit in 2011 has only 3,000 employees.

Corporations benefit greatly basically because with modern technology they can operate leaner and then make more profits. “I had many occasions to work with the marketing reps, and the approach they used in selling anything to any customer was telling them that if they bought X number of their wonderful machines, they could lay off Y number of employees”A customer engineer with IBM for twenty-five years who specializes on installing and troubleshooting large mainframes IBM explained.

But it’s also very imperative to note that though the advent of new technology might destroy jobs initially, things will eventually balance up in the long term. The initially unemployed will later find jobs elsewhere; say in repair and maintenance of technological equipment.

On the other hand, we also should realize that success from thriving industries as a result of technological advancement would in many ways help the economy; consumers would be able to purchase goods at cheaper prizes, hence save more money, which would increase their demands and purchasing power for other products. Other industries would respond to this increase in demand by producing more, which automatically implies employing more workers. Also, the remaining few workers who didn’t lose their jobs would benefit from higher wages. And with higher profits, capitalists can now venture into other businesses where they’d naturally have to employ more workers. Almost everyone benefits in the long run. So in this sense, technology both eliminates and creates jobs. And this lends so much credence to the words of Robert Solow; Nobel Prize winning economist who said “it has been the norm throughout the course of history for technology to throw people out of work. But in the long run, employment keeps growing, and wages keep rising”

We obviously can’t stand on the way of technological revolution; therefore one way to curb the rise of unemployment as a result of technological advancement is to reinvent our educational system such that modern education can deal with the current unemployment issues surrounding modern realities.

To find relevance in the ever changing world of growing technology, it’s important that individuals reinvent themselves and be devoted to constant professional trainings and never ending improvements. Basically because jobs that require mentally creative analytic skills and high level problem solving ability can’t easily find technological replacements. The inability to think creatively and critically implies difficulty in getting or maintaining employment.

I am @Lanre_Olagunju

*This article was first published on www.AfricanLiberty.org

 

#INSIGHTWITHLARIGOLD runs on www.omojuwa.com every Saturday.

Lanre Blogs @ www.larigold.blogspot.com

 

 

Out with the old, in with the new.

Posted on by
1

Hey guys!

I finally finished editing pictures from my last photoshoot. I know it took a while, but I got there in the end. I figured some of you might be a bit used to seeing Comfort’s face, but don’t worry, I’ve got something different for you next week.

I had a great time editing these pictures and it brought back good memories. It also made me think of the future. I’ve been thinking of various photoshoot ideas. I noticed I have some sort of “natural hair” theme going on, so I’ve decided to do a photoshoot about different shades of black. I’m hoping to do this during the summer because it’s the only time the sun comes out in London.

I am excited about what the future holds for me regarding my photography. Not just because of my photoshoot ideas, but because people have been asking me for my business card (which I’m going to make as soon as possible). I have a friend who comes from a large family and they tend to throw big parties, so she has asked me to take pictures for them. I’ve also been asked to do a family photoshoot and I’ve agreed to take pictures of some custom made handbags for my friend’s mum.

Things are looking up for me right now, but unfortunately I have exams coming up, so this is a real test of my time-management skills. Right now, I’m just looking forward to finishing school and having the whole summer to work on my photography.

Anyway, enjoy the pictures below and keep looking out for better things to come!

I think pictures look more beautiful when the models laugh.