Over 15m Nigerians searching for job TheNigerialawyer

The Federal Government has expressed serious concerns over the
rising unemployment rate in the country, saying that over 15
million Nigerians are looking for white collar jobs.

Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, who
expressed this concern in an interview with some journalists in
Enugu on Monday, said government was worried by the increasing rate
of unemployment in the country.

“Unemployment is growing into a very vicious disease condition
that has given rise to a lot of anti-social behaviour. And
government is seriously worried because if we don’t confront
unemployment head on with many measures which we are fashioning
now, then the whole country will be consumed with social
unrest.

“The symptoms are there. Boko Haram is a symptom of unemployment
in Nigeria. IPOB is a symptom of unemployment and desperation and
people getting frustrated.

“Same goes for banditry in the North West. Same goes for
kidnapping all over the country — North West, North East, North
Central, South East, South South and South West.

“Avengers — the destruction of pipelines, OPC, all these are
symptoms of very serious underlying disease condition called
unemployment,” the minister said.

Continuing, he noted that government would fashion out ways and
means to deal with unemployment, saying, however, that government
was not doing enough to address the scourge.

“We are doing something, but I think what we are doing is not
enough.

“Government has used diversification into agriculture to fight
unemployment. Yes, it was successful where people agreed to turn
themselves into farmers.

“We have also used ad hoc procedures like N-POWER programme. It
is like a drop of water in the ocean.

“We have employed through that process 500,000 people, about
half a million. But we have those searching for white collar jobs
in the neighbourhood of about 15 million.

“So, we have to do something — to teach people new vocations,
new skills, so that not everybody will be going for white collar
jobs.

“Even if you have a university degree, you can be taught some
skills so that you employ yourself or even get employed somehow.
So, we are going to do that or it is on the table.

“We were lucky President Muhammadu Buhari came in. If not, we
would have all dispersed into neighbouring countries. We would have
had social unrest that would be internecine and by now, we would
not have solved it.

“So, we are on with our thinking caps,” the minister said.

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