JOBS CREATION SUPERSEDES WAGE INCREMENTS. Given the increasing rate of inflation, and the rising cost of living, the proposed wage increment by the government seems a welcomed idea. How good it feels to have extra monies in the pocket! However, some critics consider wage increment as a stop-gap measure. Increase in takehome is expected to boost morale ( even if it does not necessarily drive productivity). It is more of a satisfier than a satisficer. However, when salaries of government workers are increased in isolation, it also has its adverse concomitant effects on others in the society. For one, it triggers an increase in the cost of staples (and already, they are on the rise). This obliterates the expected gains of the increase. Yet, the picture is far gloomier. How? Over 95% of Nigerians are not in the employ of any tier of government. They are either unemployed, under-employed or in the private/ informal sector. Of these, over 40% are unemployed. Almost a similar percentage are under-employed. By consequence, the pains of Nigerians are unduly increased in a land of ambiguities, imbalances, and contradictions. A place that boasts of the most robust (by global standards) remunerations and perquisites for its political office holders amidst overwhelming squalor of the majority. In essence, it must be stated that, increase in salaries of government workers is not a panacea to ameliorating the plight of the citizenry. The percentage of Nigerians under the employ of the Nigerian State is relatively marginal. Besides, government lacks the clout, fidelity and morality to implement wage increases across board in the land. Yet, government is not actually helpless. If it can eradicate /reduce ineptitude, and the poverty of effective implementation of some of its sound policies, this nation will be the better. Government can do more to empower the majority. It can do more to improve on the standard of living. Functional infrastructural facilities should be well-emplaced. The small-scale sector of any nation is a strong driver of the economy. More jobs can be created here. (Of course, government has no business in business save to provide the enabling environment. This is especially true where corruption is endemic.). For instance, a number of Nigerians only require a hypothetical lift of less than three hundred thousand naira (N300,000) to commence a fledging small-scale business. This is achievable via micro-credit financing. Proper implementation of this scheme will take beneficiaries away from the horrid, de-humanizing, and over-crowded labour market. This is already well operational in
countries like Bangladesh and India. The famous Bill Gates started as a micro-entrepreneur. The relevance of financing in business can not be given excess mention. The land is awash with many with brilliant and workable business ideas, but marooned in precarious straits by want of capital. Even existing companies can do with more funding to expand and recruit more workers. Perhaps our Steel Plants in Ajaokuta and Aladja can be optimized with more funding. Currently, most banks ignore small-scale operators via extraneous emphasis on documentations that are not in tandem with the operations of these entities. A number of other parameters are yet to work. Security is one. The spate of kidnapping and other heinous crimes are consequences. Power is in a state of lethargy. Basic infrastructural facilities and amenities are either absent or comatose. A number of companies have left Nigeria for same reasons. Why are we not attracting enough of the right foreign investments? The disparity between 95% and 5% is enormous. While wage increment may add some value, creation of jobs through financing of small-scale businesses stands taller (the twosome are however not mutually exclusive). Written : January, 2012 By: Imoukhuede Moses Idehai imoism@gmail.com