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THE NATION MONDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2012
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• Workers at a seminar.
What does 2013 have in store? Nobody knows, but the prayer is that it will be a good year. The unemployed, especially, are looking forward to a prosperous 2013. To analysts only a review of ‘anti-people’policies by the government will bring succour to the people.DUPE OLAOYEOSINKOLU reports.
Will 2013 favour the jobless? A
RE you a Nigerian, born in a state other than your parents’state of origin? You were educated and even secured a job in the state of your birth. You have risen through the ranks and appreciating God for his blessings. Suddenly, a circular addressed to you by the government shattered your self-confidence and threw you into the labour market. You have been sacked because your parents hailed from a state other than where you were born and raised. This scenario is not an assumption. It is happening in many states at a time jobs are hard to come by, and this has generated a lot of concern among workers and government. Besides, Nigerians are appealing to governors to find a means of creating more jobs in the New Year, since gain-
ful employment of the youth will lure them away from committing crimes. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) is also appealing to households to cooperate with its enumerators to collect information that will guide the government in creating jobs in the country. Supervisor of an Enumeration Team, Mr Muhammed Muritala, said the call became imperative because the level of statistical awareness in the country was low. State Officer, NBS, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Oladokun Akinola, said its field workers have started collecting data on job creation. He said: “The purpose of the survey, which covers households, private establishments, Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) across the country, is to assist the Federal Government to track jobs created
and provide information on the kind of jobs people want. “It would also help the government to monitor and evaluate its programmes and policies toward job creation.” According to him, three modules would be used to collect the data. “The first is to know the households in each Enumeration Area (EA) and select 17 households to administer questionnaires on. “The second is to administer questionnaires on some selected private establishments and institutions. The third is to collect data from the MDAs.” Akinola said the field workers were to identify 60 EAs in each of the 36 states and the FCT and interview 17 selected households in each EA. Many Nigerians, however, condemn discrimination by some state governments,
against their fellow countrymen, relieving them of their jobs on the excuse of being non-indigenes of their states. Some also mentioned the case of Abia, where non-indigenes were sacked last year, during the agitation for new minimum wage.The fear is that more state governments might want to emulate Abia. But the Delta State government has said it will make job creation a priority next year to lure youths of the state away from crime, especially kidnapping. The Abia crisis started with the agitation for the payment of N18,000 minimum wage. The government decided to send non-indigenes back to their states to enable them to afford the new wage. An Abian, Douglas Adiele,who is the General Secretary, National Union of •Continued on page 38