Unemployment highest in oil-rich region -- NESG  

Unemployment highest in oil-rich region -- NESG  

The Government of the oil-producing region of Nigeria has been urged to impact well on the lives of the citizenry to reflect the huge statutory revenue allocations to them.

The Chairman of the Agric and Food Security Commission of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group, Mr Emmanuel Ijewere, said this on Tuesday in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.

Ijewere noted that states of the oil-producing region of Nigeria is said to have the highest number of unemployed citizens.

He told newsmen that Bayelsa State in the south-south region of Nigeria had the highest unemployment rate of 37 per cent of its population, while Rivers and Akwa Ibom, also in the South-south had 32 per cent and 36 per cent, respectively.

The statistics was the outcome of a research on unemployment rate in Nigeria BGL Financial Monitor.

Fighting unemployment

He, however, expressed dismay that low unemployment in some other parts of Nigeria was not a function of how rich the people are, but on how well they have used their initiative in doing things for themselves.

 In his words, “many of them are selling recharge cards, many  of them are ridding Okada (commercial motorcycles),  but that does not bring them to the level that you think is the right economic level they should attain, but they are still doing things for themselves.”

Statistics

He said that there was need to tackle unemployment in Nigeria, noting that Bayelsa, one of the bigggest oil states in Nigeria, has the worst number of unemployed, 38.4 percent unemployed young men and women.

Plateau State in the North-central Nigeria has the lowest unemployment rate of 7.1 percent, Akwa-Ibom, with all its oil has 34 percent unemployed, while Kaduna, also in North central has 11.6 per cent. 

Unavailable credit facilities

Ijewere said that poverty cut across people in the affected areas because adults did not have access to credit facilities, education and had limited economic opportunities.

Other disadvantages besetting the region, he said, were rooted in social and political inequalities.

Blessing or curse

He said that with the figures released by BGL Financial Monitor, it could be established that oil was a detriment.

He said a robust action was required now to urgently address the many factors and this could be achieved by strengthening the capabilities of the rural people to take advantage of mechanised farming.

Exploring agriculture

Ijiwere said that since there was global emphasis on agriculture, the affected states should focus attention on it, stressing that development assistance in the sector represented the avenue through which lives and welfare of a large proportion of citizens could be touched, most quickly and massively.

He noted that in doing this, agriculture had to become less-risky for the smallholder farmer and had to be more sustainable and more productive.

He said that urban agriculture had been found to provide employment; increased incomes and contributed to food and social security, but in spite of its important role and the potential, it still faced various difficulties.

Analyses have shown that agriculture provided 65.7 percent of GDP in 1957.

Ijewere said that education and skills acquisition were also important because they would empower rural youths and adults to access good employment.

NAN/Williams