Unemployment giving me sleepless nights — Okonjo-Iweala

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The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has said the spate of unemployment in the country is giving her sleepless nights.

Okonjo-Iweala said this while inspecting an ultramodern Information and Communications Technology factory of Omatek Nigeria Plc in Lagos on Friday.

She said, 

“According to the National Bureau of Statistics, each year, about 1.8m young Nigerians enter into our labour market and we need to ensure that our economy provides jobs for them.

“In fact, some people ask, ‘What keeps you awake at night, with regard to this economy?’ I say it is the issue of job creation. And I know this is what keeps Mr. President (Goodluck Jonathan) awake at night as well.

“That is why we have responded to the challenge of creating jobs by trying to transform several sectors of the economy; from agriculture, where we’re expecting to create 3.5m jobs and where the progress of reaching our goal of feeding this country is already well advanced.”

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We Have Never Had Unemployment As Huge As This In Our History – Rauf Aregbesola

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Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State has urged the Federal Government to declare a national emergency in unemployment in the country.

Governor Aregbesola made this call while declaring open a retreat organised for the 26-member Osun State House Assembly in Ada, on Monday. The theme of the retreat was ‘Developing corporate skills’ and in attendance were the Speaker, Osun State House of Assembly, Mr. Najeem Salaam, and his deputy, Mr. Adegboye Akintunde, among others. Aregbesola said it was strange that the unemployment level in the country had failed to elicit the desired reaction from governments.

Obama’s Policies Have Only Increased African American Unemployment – Dr Ben Carson

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A comment from the world-renowned neurosurgeon, Dr Ben Carson has sparked a discussion in the African American community.

“If President Obama wants to be a hero in the African-American community, he should do something to alleviate the “abominable” African American unemployment rate in America,” says Dr. Carson.

The head of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Md., who was the first surgeon to separate conjoined twins, has continued to ride the wave of momentum from his last speech by speaking out on the economic policies of the Obama administration by stating that they’ve been harmful to African Americans.

Expert Says Nigerian Education Curriculum Responsible For Unemployment

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The Founder of the Centre for Applied Thinking, Josefu Adeyeni on Wednesday said the Nigerian Educational curriculum is structured in a way that graduates are prepared to be job seekers rather than job creators.

Speaking as a guest on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, Sunrise Daily, Mr Adeyeni said the Nigerian educational system is using the 20th century curriculum to prepare 21st century people.

He said though the Bloom’s Taxonomy, which guided the curriculum structure in Nigeria education and was prepared in 1956, was revised in 2001, the country still use the old version which emphasised preparation for job after graduation.

The Position of Authority in Nigeria Youth Unemployment

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It is the duty and responsibility of the government and different policy makers to provide such an environment and conditions which are conducive for the youth entrepreneurial activities. Different policy initiatives encourage and motivate young people to come up with new ideas and start their own youth enterprises. This will first reduce the incidence of unemployment to a great extent and as such would have dealt a massive blow to the problem of youth restiveness.

To do this effectively, the policymakers need to realize that alone public spending is not going to contribute towards the welfare of the youth. It is the policies of the states that must be created in a way that will help to stimulate the younger people as well as their parents and communities to invest in themselves. The main essence of implementing youth friendly policies is they are not as costly as direct investments but require a lot of political trade-off to actually implement the policies so that they benefit each and every young person living in the country.