NECA reveals solutions to unemployment, hardship to Tinubu
The Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) has revealed what President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration must do to end unemployment and hardship in Nigeria.
According to NAN, NECA’s Director-General, Mr Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, disclosed this in a statement on Monday following the recently concluded International Labour Conference of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Geneva, Switzerland.
Oyerinde said President Tinubu should focus on apprenticeship to tackle Nigeria’s rising unemployment rate and hardship.
Nigeria’s unemployment rate is 33.3 per cent, among the highest globally, according to the National Bureau of Statistics unemployment report in 2020. However, KPMG in April said Nigeria’s unemployment rate may reach 40.6 per cent in 2023.
Consequently, he said the government must look beyond the usual to tackle the unemployment rate.
“With the rising rate of unemployment in the world and Nigeria facing a significant unemployment crisis, apprenticeship has been identified as a veritable means of tackling the scourge.
“It is no gainsaying that with over 35 per cent unemployment rate and a challenged economy like ours, the government must look beyond the usual to tackle the ticking time bomb,” he said.
He noted that the conversation on apprenticeship had gained prominence worldwide.
He said there was no better time for the government to address the country’s current challenge of rising unemployment with a deliberate apprenticeship policy.
“It is pleasing to note that Nigeria is ahead of the world in promoting apprenticeship and technical and vocational skills training through a public-private partnership scheme with the Industrial Training Fund (ITF).
“The project with ITF remains a model project, equipping thousands of Nigerian youths with scalable skills and competencies that will make them relevant and valuable in the Industry, thereby adding value to the economy.
“The ILO has also judged the ITF-NECA project as a model for addressing unemployment and skills mismatch in the country. The outcome of the committee discussions on apprenticeship at the ILO also gave credence to the need to refocus on apprenticeship and skills development.
“The setting of a new international labour standard in the form of a Recommendation on Apprenticeship no doubt gained wide acceptance by the constituents of the ILO,” he said.
Oyerinde called for the current established framework and PPP model of the ITF-NECA already in place to be deepened for greater effect and impact.
He said, “Deliberate efforts should also be made to encourage more private sector operators to support apprenticeship with incentives that will motivate them to contribute effectively to the success and sustainability of the scheme.”
