Declare State Of Emergency On Unemployment, Group Urges FG

Philip Daniel Yatai
Dec, Wed, 2023

Politics

Declare state of emergency on unemployment, Group urges FG

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By Angela Atabo

An NGO, Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education (CHRICED), has called on the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency on unemployment in the country.

Executive Director of CHRICED, Ibrahim Zikirullahi, made the call at a news conference on the state of the nation on Wednesday in Abuja.

Zikirullahi also called on the government to vote one billion naira for job creation in each of the 774 local government areas (LGAs) across the country.

This, he said, should be based on the unique characteristics of each local government area, using some key sectors of the economy, particularly manufacturing, agricultural and industrial sectors as well as ICT.

Zikirullahi stated that these sectors should be used as the foundation for achieving inclusive growth in Nigeria, especially with the rising rate of youth unemployment and crime in the country.

He said that the call had become imperative because the challenge of the cost of living had continued to pose ‘a significant existential threat’ to millions of Nigerians, hence the need to put measures in place to address it.

“CHRICED recognises certain ambitious declarations, such as the additional increase of N35,000 for workers, conditional cash transfers to the poorest of the poor, students’ loans and revitalisation of the manufacturing and agricultural sectors.

“However, it is insufficient to merely announce these grand interventions without presenting a compelling argument that emphasises crucial aspects of sustainability, transparency and accountability.

“Based on the current tone of the proposed intervention by the federal government, there is a possibility that it may become another avenue for wastage and depleting scarce public resources without achieving the desired impact on ordinary citizens,’’ he said.

The executive director called on the federal government to learn valuable lessons from programmes like N-Power and other public employment schemes, all which were plagued by corruption, absenteeism and impersonation

“Our position is that any intervention on this scale, given the quantum of resources and the fact that a lot of public debt is being incurred in these kinds of spending, should be driven by real value addition on the ground.

“This is why CHRICED has, over the years, called for the 774 local government areas to be used as the basis and template for well-thought out economic policies to evenly spread impactful and sustainable development across the country.

“As a matter of fact, CHRICED has severally suggested some clear-headed policies, which we believe if adopted and faithfully implemented, will return our teeming population of unemployed to work.

“It will also serve as a basis for the rapid industrial development of our country,” he said.

According to him, in addition to generating new employment templates, there should also be a strong political commitment to enhancing the fairness, transparency and openness of the government’s employment and economic empowerment programmes being implemented nationwide.

Zikirullahi also stressed the need for revamping and reforming the country’s security architecture to ensure that every budget allocated for defense was accounted for.

This, he said, would go a long way in curbing the spate of kidnapping, insurgency and other insecurity issues.

The executive director called for the conduct of thorough investigation into the judgments by some election petitions tribunal, resulting in judicial embarrassment and holding those responsible accountable for their actions. (NAN)

Edited by ‘Wale Sadeeq

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