ORGANISED Labour yesterday, yesterday warned that the latest unemployment report released by the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, showing that 7.53 million out of Nigeria’s labour force of 85.08 million were unemployed, was a threat to national development.
Specifically, organized labour speaking through the General Secretary of the National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria, NUTGTWN, and a member of the National Executive Council, NEC, of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Mr. Issa Aremu, contended that the report once again, confirmed the crisis of governance and underdevelopment in Nigeria.
According to him: “If we have such army of underemployed, the crisis of unemployment has assumed tragic proportions in forms of various mass crimes as restless youths swell the ranks of kidnappers and insurgent. All tiers of government must rise to promote development through re-Industrialization, uninterrupted electricity supply and war against which make the products of local industries uncompetitive. It is worrisome that the few employed are in subsistence farming and informal sector.
“There is an urgent need for a bipartisan employment drive in the country. Sustainable jobs can only come from industry and massive public infrastructural development such as railways, roads construction, reinvention of public schools and hospitals. Mass unemployment means value-subtraction for Nigeria at a time when there is much work to be done and the nation is begging for growth and development. All the issues in unemployment crisis are governance issues which task the responsibilities and sensitivities of the Federal as well as State Governments of the Federation.
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