Why we’re prioritizing job creation for Nigerians ---- Osinbajo
Determined to create more opportunities for Nigerians and
close the unemployment gap in the country, the Buhari administration has over
the years prioritised employment generation by integrating job creation in all
its major policies, projects and programmes, according to Vice President Yemi
Osinbajo, SAN.
Prof. Osinbajo disclosed this on Monday at the formal
presentation of the Research Report of Course 29 of the National Defence
College, titled “Creating Jobs & Opportunities for Africa’s Largest Youth
Population,” at the Presidential Villa.
According to him, “If you recall, when the President was
speaking concerning the budget in 2019, he mentioned that one of the critical
things to do, concerning every Minister, is that, with every policy, we must
state how many jobs to create.
“So, the key question that we ask regarding any government
policy is how many jobs will this bring about, how many jobs it will create.
And aside from that, there have also been several engagements with different
policy bodies and ideas concerning job creation.”
The VP further said: “The whole idea of creating jobs and
opportunities especially in an economy this size, is that government’s
involvement must be in creating the enabling environment.”
Speaking on some of the programmes specifically designed to
create jobs, Prof. Osinbajo noted that “you are probably aware of the current
effort of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council which was launched
recently - the National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy, which I have
the privilege of chairing its Steering Committee. This is another of the very broad plans of
creating opportunities and more jobs.”
The VP noted that “there are also other several job initiatives.
The Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) is a major plan of job creation, as a
matter of fact, the major focus of our ESP is job creation - sustaining
existing jobs and then being able to create other jobs.
“The Food for Jobs programme which is an agricultural
programme is a major initiative that has led to the identification of 5 million
farmers, and these farmers are geo-tagged to their farmlands which is the first
time that this has been done in the history of the country.
“They now have BVN numbers so that loans can be given to
them and farm inputs as well. So, the Food for Jobs Programme is a major
agricultural plan” he added.
The Vice President also spoke about the social housing and
solar connections being components of the ESP which have been prioritized by
the Buhari administration to create jobs directly and indirectly for thousands
of Nigerians, especially youths across the country.
Commending the management of the College, the VP said the
NDC research initiative has been “extremely useful in agitating the ideas,
thoughts and policies that could influence the direction of government.”
His words: “I really want to commend the resourceful and
insightful work that has been done especially with this issue of job creation,
as you can imagine, this is obviously one of the critical problems that we have
as an economy and a nation.”
Earlier in his remarks, the Commandant of the National
Defence College, Rear Admiral Oladele Daji, said the presentation of the
research report was in response to the request by the Vice President to look
into job creation scenarios and strategy.
He noted that Course 29 of the College which comprised 96
participants across services within and outside the country, was presenting the
report in fulfillment of the Higher Defence Management and Strategic Research.
The research report
was presented on behalf of the Course 29 participants by Navy Capt TS
Ngada. In 2019, the Vice President
received a report from Course 27 on “Water Resource Management and Regional
Security: Lake Chad in perspective”, and in 2020, Course 28 participants made a
virtual presentation to the VP on “Border Management & National
Development”.
In another development, Prof. Osinbajo has commended the
completion of the demutualization of the stock exchange, noting that “it is a
welcome development and fantastic that the process is now complete.”
The Vice President stated this when he received, on a
courtesy visit to the Presidential Villa, the management of the Nigerian
Exchange Limited led by its Chief Executive Officer, Mr Temi Popoola. The
delegation made a presentation on the post-demutualization activities of the
Nigerian Exchange Group to the VP, who urged the management of the company to
explore areas of growing the stock market by venturing into emerging frontiers.
He assured the management of government’s support by way of
policy to enable the company and the stock market reach greater heights.
Earlier in his presentation, the CEO of the Nigerian
Exchange Ltd, Mr Popoola said the organisation has been repositioned for profit
and to align to the tastes and preferences of the market.
He said under the new arrangement, the market will be opened
up for more companies to be listed, resulting in more revenues for government
as listed companies pay more taxes and are more responsible to the environment
they operate in.
He appealed to the Federal Government to support the
rejuvenation of the stock exchange, assuring of better times ahead both for the
public and corporate.
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