Unemployment: Senate summons Ngige
The Senate on Tuesday resolved to invite
the Minister of Labour and Employment to provide insight into
government’s road-map towards tackling unemployment in the country.
This followed a motion by Sen. Duro
Faseyi (PDP-Ekiti), who called on the President Muhammadu Buhari to
declare a state of emergency
on unemployment with a view to confront the
challenge “frontally and radically”.
He said, “The economic recession which
has hit the country would integrally multiply the level of unemployment
in the country as more companies have started considering downsizing in
order to cut cost and optimise profit.”
Faseyi lamented that the unemployment
figure in the country had created social tension and crisis in the
society, which was evident in cases of kidnapping and insurgency.
He advised that urgent and
results-oriented steps should be taken to tackle the “unpalatable
unemployment” situation in the country.
Supporting the motion, Sen. Sabi
Abdullahi (APC-Niger) said that the time was ripe for the National
Assembly to proffer solution to unemployment in the country.
He said, “There is no better time than now, especially as we are moving towards next year’s budget proposal.
“The policy intent of government with
respect to unemployment is not unambiguous because government has
accepted that the unemployment rate is something to worry about.”
He said that what was worrisome was the
issue of translating policy intent into programmes and actions that
would address the issue of unemployment.
He said, “The Committee on Labour and Employment was on oversight just last week.
“It was revealed that the National
Directorate for Employment has very innovative programmes that cut
across various sectors in various locations across the federation.
“In the budget of N1.8bn, as at
November, they were only given N74m, yet it is expected that from the
programmes they have, they are expected to train youths and various
interest groups.
“This would enable the youths to begin
to do something by way of employing themselves or even creating small
and micro enterprises where they can employ one or two persons.”
The lawmaker urged members of the senate
to find a yardstick in determining how much the Ministry of Labour and
Employment would receive to tackle unemployment.
After debate on the motion, the lawmakers adopted it with a resolution to invite Labour Minister for some explanation.
The Deputy President of the Senate, Ike
Ekweremadu, who presided at the plenary, directed the Clerk of the
Senate to invite the minister.
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