The Minister of Labour, Chief Chukwuemeka Wogu, yesterday told Nigerian workers not to be worried over the call on the government by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, to cut the nation’s workforce by half to help sustain economy. Sanusi had argued that the country was spending too much money on a negligible percentage of the population to the detriment of the overwhelming majority.
Wogu, who made the call at the 8th National Labour Relations Summit and Fellowship Award, with the theme, ‘Social Policy, Labour Relations and the Transformation Agenda: Extending Social Protection In Nigeria’, assured the workers that the federal government would rather create more jobs for Nigerians than sack workers.
The House of Representatives also raised objections to Sanusi’s suggestion for a reduction in the number of lawmakers in National Assembly to save cost.
Wogu declared: “I speak authoritatively and I want to be quoted. Both the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) should not be agitated on the issue because federal government is committed to protecting and creating more jobs in the country.”
The minister further disclosed that a committee had been set up to create more jobs in various sectors of the nation’s economy, and would commence work next week.
Though, he contended that job creation was mostly driven by the private sector, he, however, said that the government was creating enabling environment for the private sector to thrive, adding that government owed the society the responsibility to do just that.
He also said that President Goodluck Jonathan was committed to implementing job creation policies, particularly in sectors like agriculture, construction, ICT, and tourism, among others.
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