Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo- Iweala, yesterday said more than 1.8 million Nigerian youths enter the labour market annually. Okonjo-Iweala made the disclosure in Abuja when she received members of the National Executive Council of the Arewa Youth Forum (AYF) led by its President, Alhaji Gambo Ibrahim Gujungu in her office.
She said the Economic Management Implementation Team in collaboration with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has come up with a methodology that will appropriately measure the rate of unemployment and job creation in the country.
Her words: “So for the first time, we know that 1.8 million people are entering the job market every year and I am happy to tell you that by the measurement and survey, we were able to give 1.6 million jobs, so we are getting close to the 1.8 million that entered the job market.
“We are not there yet, we are still two hundred thousand jobs short of closing the annual gap and we currently have a pool of 5.3 million unemployed people which has been accumulating over the years, so that shows we need to work harder.” The minister expressed optimism at government’s efforts towards job creation for the teeming Nigerian youths, pointing out that “government is working hard and we are counting the number of jobs being created in agriculture, manufacturing, retail trade, telecommunication and in the financial sector, not forgetting Nollywood and we intend to do more.”
Source: New Telegraph
