Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, has said Nigeria’s unemployment rate may hit 33.5 per cent by 2020.
The minister made the disclosure while opening a two-day workshop on “Breaking the Resilience of High Unemployment Rate in the Country”, on Thursday in Abuja.
Dr Ngige lamented that the rapid increase in unemployment in the country was becoming quite alarming, noting that the current high unemployment rate of 23.1 per cent, and underemployment of 16.6 per cent released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its 2019 report was unacceptable.
“It is a worrisome status as the global poverty capital (World Bank, 2018); and concomitant high prevalence rate of crimes and criminality, including mass murders, insurgency, militancy, armed robbery, kidnappings and drug abuse, among others.
“As if this situation is not scary enough, it is projected that the unemployment rate for this country will reach 33.5 per cent by 2020, with consequences that are better imagined, if the trend is not urgently reversed.’ ‘The Minister said.
He, however, noted that Nigeria has not been resting on its oars over the years in terms of efforts to curb the unemployment problem.
Ngige said that various government social intervention programmes targeted at reducing youth unemployment and eradicating poverty have been implemented by different administrations since Nigeria gained independence.
The minister also said that available records showed that from 1972 to date, about 14 different programmes have been implemented, including the National Accelerated Food Production Programme (NAFPP), implemented between 1972 and 1973 in a bid to reduce unemployment.
Meanwhile, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for fourth quarter 2018 was N324.59 billion compared to N264.34 billion recorded in third quarter of the same year.
NBS disclosed this in the IGR at State Level for Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2018 posted on its website.
It said 31 states and the FCT recorded growth in IGR while five states recorded decline in their IGR quarter-on-quarter at the end of fourth quarter, 2018.The report said the net Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) allocation in fourth quarter 2018, was put at N2.56 trillion.
The report however said the total revenue available to the states including the FCT was N3.74 trillion in the quarter under review.It said the value of foreign debt stood at $4.23 billion dollars while domestic debt was N3.85 trillion at the end of the year 2018.
The states IGR data was computed by the NBS and the Joint Tax Board from official records and submissions by the 36 State Boards of Internal Revenue.
These submissions were then validated and authenticated by the Joint Tax Board chaired by the Federal Inland Revenue Service.
The board has the NBS and the 36 State Boards of Internal Revenue as members
