By VICTOR AHIUMA-YOUNG
MINISTER of Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka Wogu, and Commandant of the National Defence College NDC, Rear Admiral Thomas Lokoson, have said unemployment is one of the single largest contributing factors to insecurity in the country and called for broad base policy initiatives including the input and participation of security agencies as a way out of youth restiveness arising from joblessness in the country.

Chief Wogu and Admiral Lokoson spoke at a seminar on National Security for course 20 of the National Defense College, Abuja,  in a lead paper titled “National policy on employment in Nigeria: Implications for Nigeria’s National Security.”

*Commandant of the National Defence College, NDC, Rear Admiral Thomas Lokoson, welcoming the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka Wogu, to the seminar.

The labour Minister, who was the chairman at the seminar, began with the meaning of unemployment, overview of the global unemployment situation, policy issues on employment in Nigeria and detailed various attempts by the Federal Government to solve the unemployment crisis in Nigeria.

Speaking on the “implications of unemployment for Nigeria’ national security” said though recent report by the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, indicates that poverty in Nigeria is rising with almost 100 million people living on less than $1 a day, despite strong growth in Africa’s second largest economy, it is however a subject of debate on the accuracy of the findings.

What is more worrisome is that despite declaration of huge profit after tax by operating multinationals in the country, the proportion of Nigerians living in poverty is increasing every year. These revelations reflect the growing frustration and anger of millions of Nigerian youths whose hopes and aspirations could wrongly be expressed through violence and crime.”

“An idle mind is the devil’s workshop is an age-long adage. Since these creative minds must be productively engaged, various regional militia groups have sprung up with a large reservoir of other idle hands for immediate hire or deployment for any socio-political reprisal.

It was manageable when the percentage of total unemployment had not peaked 21%.  Today, the crime rate and wave is overwhelming and the general security threat staring us in the face has reached an all time high in the last few months.

The collective frustration among young job-seekers no doubt, is one of the single largest contributing factors to the ethnic and religious insecurity in the country as it is increasingly becoming difficult for them to secure anything other than part-time or temporary work – Assassins, Kidnappers or as thugs.”

While noting that the contract employment and outsourcing had become part of the nation’s employment system, the Labour Minister said, “Disengaged contract employees in the various industrial sectors are posing serious challenge to the growth in these sectors.

It is difficult and unimaginable for common jobless Nigerians to be engaged in the complex technical bunkering and pipeline vandalism but for active connivance of disengaged personnel who are familiar with the technologies in the sector. Some are part of the working poor – who are supposedly exploited or grossly treated unfairly. The threats are largely manifested in the oil and gas; and, energy and power sectors.”

“The security situation is worsened by the apparent lack of quality network of intelligence among our various security agencies. It is not enough to identify flash points and unemployed hands as a major cause of insecurity in our land.

It is indeed, very imperative to built a robust network of exchange of intelligence among the various security units. The public should be sensitized enough to volunteer information without fear or risking their privacy and lives.  Nigerians long to establish that confidence that information supplied will not bounce back to harm or disturb the relative peace of their community.”

Ways of out unemployment crisis

Proffering solutions, Chief Wogu said “a carefully contrived employment intensive growth process should be put in place and pursued. This means the adoption of an investment-led strategy of fighting poverty through employment creation or implementation of investment-led employment strategy where employment issues are central in both goal and content in investment decisions.

Government should insist on implementing employment guarantee schemes that will engage excess labour for productive activities in the agricultural sector, environment beautification, etc. I also submit the immediate adoption and implementation of employment template to capture all generated job opportunities arising from all government capital projects from the 2012 Appropriation Act.”

“The unemployment situation in the country notwithstanding, security threats and related issues are of global dimension. Insecurity is not peculiar to Nigeria. I advocate special focus on youth related security challenges and its relations to various socio-economic policies and programmes.”

In his opening remarks the Commandant of the National Defence College NDC, Rear Admiral Thomas Lokoson, said that the wave of insecurity across the Country could partially be attributed to lack of job security hence the need for the college to single out the issue employment for closer examination.

He said “The present wave of insecurity sweeping across the nation could be partially attributed to lack of job security. This is what motivated the National Defence College to single out employment for closer examination. Security is beyond security of the state from external physical attack or from domestic or transnational irregular threats. Security also embraces the survival and well-being of the state and its citizen.”