Unemployment in Nigeria, a time bomb — PENGASSAN

PETROLEUM and Natural Gas Senior Staff
of Nigeria, PENGASSAN,  has described the
unemployment situation in Nigeria as a time bomb
that can explode any moment, calling on all tiers of
government, especially the Federal Government, to
be practical in its quest for job creation.
A statement by its National Public Relations Officer,
Mr. Seyi Gambo, yesterday, in Lagos, said the only
way to win the war against crime was tackling
unemployment challenges.

According to him, “looking at huge number of
applicants in some of the recruitment exercise
carried out recently, especially the Nigerian
Immigration Service recruitment and the Delta State
Civil Service are testimonies that government at all
levels needs to be pragmatic about job creation in
the country.
“This is not a matter of statistics and figures alone.
All the figures being brandished by the Minister of
Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy,
Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iwealla, where she claimed
increased job creation by the Federal Government
and reduction in unemployment did not reflect the
true reality on ground.
“The high number of applicants in the failed NIS
recruitment exercise and other instances that may
not be known shows the reality of the kind of
problem the Nigerian nation is. Unless the issue of
unemployment is resolved, various crises such as
insurgency, kidnapping, ritual killing, armed
struggles and other crimes will not stop.
“The government must take pragmatic steps in
fixing the nation’s infrastructural facilities,
especially power, as a genuine step towards job
creation and employment sustainability in the
country. The worsening power situation in Nigeria
also compounds the problems of the self-
employed.”