Nigerian Tribune
… Call mount for FG to take more concrete action
Following official information from the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) stating that about 250,000 unemployed Nigerians, willing to receive hands-on skills training, have applied for the 27,000 slots available for the second phase of its Renewed Hope Employment Initiative (RHEI) within just seven days of the portal opening, many Nigerians have expressed deep concerns over alarming rate of unemployment situation in the country.
“This is the reality and the true picture of the unemployment situation in Nigeria. Over 250,000 applicants for just 27,000 spaces? I hope that Mr President and his cabinet are seeing it,” exclaimed Mr. Emenike Ikedichi Ubani, a Lecturer at Abia State University, when he spoke to our reporter.
He went further to say: “This kind of alarming situation doesn’t require analysis for anybody to see and know that concrete action is immediately needed. No one needs to be told the ripple effect of having many youths: graduates or non-graduates roaming the streets without anything to do.”
On his part, Comrade James Eustace, Principal Assistant General Secretary of the NLC, said: “That huge number is an indication that Nigerians are willing to be useful. To see that huge turnout applying for a training programme shows how resolute Nigerians are to earn a living legally and to the benefit of the country. What it means is that the Government has to take this seriously by deploying more facilities to accommodate more of these applicants. Government cannot afford to leave these ones willing to find something doing behind. If they cannot all be accommodated at once, more resources should be provided to the agency so that there will be more phases after this one, to ensure that as many as are willing shall be trained to acquire new skills and be useful to themselves, the country, and contribute to driving the growth of the national economy.”
In addition, Dr. Chibuzor Onyeama, labour migration expert and BANC CEO, said: “This should further open the eyes of government to how many unemployed youths there are in the country. Should every Nigerian unemployed youth with access to this registration link, phone and internet succeed in registering for the training, I bet you there will be over two million people within two weeks on that portal. In fact, there are more unemployed youths in the rural communities than you can imagine. This calls for more action from the Federal Government to scale up the robustness of this facility to ensure that more youths are considered and accommodated within the plan. Again, there is need to encourage and financially empower NDE to provide more opportunities for the unemployed Nigerians. Other government agencies and even NGOs need to be empowered by the government through different collaborations to tackle the surge of irregular migration, which is mainly caused by unemployment.
If young people are provided with the right opportunities, many of them will have no reason or business going overseas, especially through dangerous routes. We at BANC are already doing our own quota in this regard in partnership with many international and national-based organisations, and we are ready and willing to partner with government directly to reduce the high rate of unemployment and its consequent effects.”
Also, National President of SSANU, Comrade Mohammad H. Ibrahim, added his voice and said: “This level of response depicts the fact that the rate of unemployment in Nigeria is not imaginary. The initiative is commendable, and while we call for transparency in the implementation, this figure within a few days calls for more constructive action. NDE and other related agencies must be provided with more funding to drive such schemes.
“Digital skills are very important so they should move towards training the unemployed in digital and most relevant skills. With the removal of fuel subsidy, the government should have enough money to adequately fund job creation and skills acquisition programmes, with enough funds to empower them after the training.”
Also, Mrs. Mary Yohana, a civil servant, said: “I believe the NDE didn’t expect that high number of applicants. Well, that is the reality of unemployment in the country. People are hungry, looking for what to do. Anything that can put food on their table—so many Nigerian youths, women and men are ready to do it. Have you seen the number of young people, and even other men and women, doing POS business? I pray government doesn’t pay lip service to such an alarming situation. We cry about insecurity today, but the consequences of more youths going into that direction will be terrible for everyone.”