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  • COVID-19 impact on jobs worse than expected- ILO

    COVID-19 impact on jobs worse than expected- ILO

    Jobs recovery is stalled worldwide, and disparities between advanced and developing economies are threatening the whole global economy, the International Labour Organisation warned on Wednesday.

    The agency is projecting that global hours worked this year will be 4.3 per cent below pre-pandemic levels, the equivalent of 125 million full-time jobs. This is a dramatic revision of the projection made in June of 3.5 per cent or 100 million full-time jobs.

    The eighth edition of the ILO Monitor, ‘COVID-19 and the world of work’, also warned of a “great divergence” between developed and developing countries, saying it will persist without concrete financial and technical support.

    In the third quarter of 2021, total hours worked in high-income countries were 3.6 per cent lower than the fourth quarter of 2019, before the pandemic hit.

    By distinction, the gap in low-income countries stood at 5.7 per cent and in lower-middle-income countries at 7.3 per cent.

    From a regional perspective, Europe and Central Asia experienced the smallest loss in hours, around 2.5 per cent. Asia and the Pacific followed this at 4.6 per cent.

    Africa, the Americas and the Arab states showed declines of 5.6, 5.4 and 6.5 per cent respectively. This great divergence is largely driven by major differences in the roll-out of vaccinations and fiscal stimulus packages.

    Estimates indicate that for every 14 persons fully vaccinated in the second quarter of 2021, one full-time equivalent job was added to the global labour market. This substantially boosted the recovery.

    In the absence of any vaccines, globally, the loss in hours worked would have stood at six per cent in the second quarter of 2021, rather than the 4.8 per cent recorded.

    The highly uneven vaccine rollout means that the effect was largest in high-income countries, negligible in lower-middle-income countries and almost zero in low-income countries.

    According to ILO, the imbalances could be rapidly addressed through greater global solidarity in respect of vaccines. The agency estimated that if low-income countries had more equitable access to vaccines, working-hour recovery would catch up with richer economies in just over one quarter.

    Fiscal stimulus continued to be the other key factor in the trajectories of recovery. However, the gap remains largely unaddressed, with around 86 per cent of all measures concentrated in high-income countries.

    On average, an increase in the fiscal stimulus of one per cent of annual GDP increased annual working hours by 0.3 percentage points relative to the last quarter of 2019.

    The disaster has also impacted productivity, leading to greater disparities. The productivity gap between advanced and developing countries is projected to widen to the highest level since 2005.

    ILO director-general, Guy Ryder, highlighted the unequal vaccine distribution and fiscal capacities saying that “both need to be addressed urgently.”

    He pointed to the Global Call to Action for a human-centred COVID-19 recovery, a roadmap adopted last year by the International Labour Conference that commits countries to ensure that their recovery is fully inclusive, sustainable and resilient.

    “It is time to implement this roadmap, which is fully aligned with and supports the UN’s Common Agenda and its Global Accelerator for Jobs and Social Protection,” Mr Ryder said.

     

  • BREAKING: Reps halt FG’s 774,000 job scheme, condemn sack of NDE boss

    BREAKING: Reps halt FG’s 774,000 job scheme, condemn sack of NDE boss

    House of Representatives has passed a resolution mandating the Minister Of State For Labour Festus Keyamo (SAN), to stay action on the planned January 2021 implementation of the Special Public Works Programme of the Federal Government.

    The reps passed the resolution on Tuesday, saying the programme will not be implemented until a comprehensive list of beneficiaries from the Nigerian directorate of employment is made available.

    Under the programme, 774,000 people are expected to be recruited by the Federal Government, with the sum of N52 billion, earmarked in the 2020 budget.

    1,000 persons are to be employed from each of the 774 Local Government Areas in the country, for the programme which is said to be a post-COVID-19 poverty alleviation initiative, approved by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    As of July when the program had initially been billed to commence on October 1, the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, said each beneficiary is expected to be paid N20,000 monthly.

    Meanwhile, the House on Tuesday also condemned the removal of the Director-General of the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) and calling for his immediate reinstatement.

    Before his removal, the NDE DG had publicly claimed that the agency had not been carried along by the Minister of State over the implementation of the programme.

    The motion was moved by representative Olajide Olatunbosun.

    According to the House, the president was ill-advised to sack the DG who was simply insisting on following the right procedures.

  • Elected people won’t escape if fresh #EndSARS protests break out – Senate President

    Elected people won’t escape if fresh #EndSARS protests break out – Senate President

    The Senate Monday called on the Federal Government to dedicate substantial part of the 2021 budget to create employment opportunities, reduce poverty and ensure food security for Nigerians in order to prevent another youth uprising similar to what was witnessed following the recent #EndSARS protests.

    This is even as the upper chamber decried what it described as “abysmally low” budgetary allocation to the agricultural sector over the years.

    The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan and the Chairman Senate Committee on Agriculture, Senator Abudullahi Adamu (Nasarawa West), made these assertions during the 2021 budget defence session by the Minister of Agriculture, Sabo Nanono, in Abuja.

    Lawan noted that agriculture can provide jobs for everybody while oil can only provide few white collar jobs.

    He said that the Federal Government needed to be “practical and radical” in applying its resources to address the urgent needs of the people.

    Lawan said: “Recently, we had some of our youths protesting genuinely. They were seeking the attention of leaders and they got the attention of leaders.

    “So, our budget, especially for 2021 should be mindful of what we do to provide employment opportunities for these youths.

    “They demonstrated and protested because they could do so, there are so many other people who may not be youthful but are also in the same need and they didn’t protest.

    “Let’s meet them where they are. We don’t have to wait until they also start to grumble or protest.

    “We should be proactive, we should reach them and most of them are in the rural areas and give them what we can and what they need to some extent within the purview of our resources and keep them there to live a productive life and that is the only way that we can make a difference in the lives of the people.

    “And for us, elected people, we are going to be accountable. If we escape this one (#EndSARS protests), the other one is inescapable and I am sure people will know what I am saying.”

    Lawan also insisted that agriculture is enough to turn around the fortunes of Nigeria.

    “This sector can do something that oil has not been able to do. But why hasn’t it been able to do so? We need to be very practical and radical.

    “I believe that the way we are going, will not take us to the El-dorado but there is every potential, every possibility and other countries have made it through the sector.

    “Every time we talk about diversification of the Nigerian economy, the first sector they mention is the agricultural sector.

    “So it means this sector needs to be given all the support that is possible. Oil cannot give jobs to the youths that we have only few people and mostly white collar jobs but we know that this sector can give everybody a job.

    “And it has all the potentials to create the wealth that we need to have a fairly meaningful life for everyone. So we need to apply ourselves fully to operating this sector,” Lawan said.

    Senator Adamu in his opening remarks decried low budgetary allocation to agriculture over the years.

    He said while the Maputo declaration provides that 10 per cent of national budgets should go to agriculture, the 2021 allocation to the agricultural sector is less than two per cent of the N13.8 trillion total appropriations.

    Adamu said: “In 2021, the sector (agriculture) witnessed a slight increase with a total allocation of N139, 458, 322,208.00.

    “Over the years, the sector’s allocation has been abysmally low, a far cry from the Maputo declaration which states that a country should allocate at least 10 per cent of their national budget to the agricultural sector.

    “This year’s budget proposal only allocated less than two per cent to the agricultural sector.

    “The sector’s N139,458,322,208.00 is broken down as follows: Personnel – N68,031,135,074.00, overhead – N3,186,608,895.00, capital – N110,240,253,439.00.”

    However, while the Minister of Agriculture, Nanono, admitted that the current budgetary allocations for the sector have been low, he said that the sector recorded meaningful progress in 2020 and remains one of the fastest growing sectors in the country.”

  • Textile alone can generate 2.5 million jobs – Issa Aremu tells FG

    Textile alone can generate 2.5 million jobs – Issa Aremu tells FG

    Mr Issa Aremu, Vice President of IndustriALL Global Union, has said that the textile industries alone can generate over 2.5 million jobs in Nigeria if rejuvenated.

    To President Muhammadu Buhari, Aremu said the current government could create 100 million jobs over the next 10 years with the resuscitation of the textile industries.

    Aremu made the call on Saturday in Lokoja at a one-day interactive session on the 5-year policy Trust of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) – (2019-2024). The session was organized by the CBN, in collaboration with Organised Labour and other stakeholders.

    He said that through the CBN intervention in cotton production, the narratives have changed from cotton shortages to cotton abundance and the country should no longer import cotton from Benin Republic.

    Aremu, who is also the General Secretary, National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NVTGTWN), said, “Now, the challenge is that many gineries have come back and are ginning the cotton seeds. They will then move to milling, weaving, spinning and the final product.

    “You won’t believe it, uniforms for the Nigeria Customs Services, Police and the Army are produced in Bangladesh and India.

    “Consider the security implications among other things. You know what, the few textile industries remaining have the capacity to produce them (the uniforms).

    “We can even use it to kick-start new factories and you can imagine if we all agree that uniforms of primary and secondary school children should be produced locally, many of the garment factories will come back and this will get youths gainfully employed,” he said.

    Aremu suggested that other sectors like construction and pharmaceuticals, should be rejuvenates for optimal performance.

    For instance, he said “We like to drive exotic cars in Nigeria but we do not have factories where these cars can be manufactured. When properly rejuvenated, the factories for Volkswagen, Peugeot, Fiat, trucks in Kano, Styer in Bauchi can create decent jobs in these areas.”

  • COVID-19: NITDA stipulate strategies to retain 100,000 jobs

    COVID-19: NITDA stipulate strategies to retain 100,000 jobs

    In its bid to cushion the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has mapped out strategic plans to retain 100,000 jobs and create 30,000 more.

    The Director-General of NITDA, Mr Kashifu Inuwa, disclosed this in a virtual meeting on Friday organised by Innovation Support Network (ISN), at its North Regional Gathering 2020.

    The meeting which was in collaboration with Ford Foundation focused on “Repositioning Hubs for Post Pandemic Success”.

    “We set up the Tech4Covid-19 committee which has come up with plan to ensure that it retains about 100,000 ICT jobs and create additional 30,000 jobs post COVID-19 era.

    “We swiftly initiated several policies and programmes for the technology ecosystem and startups to be able to withstand the impact of the pandemic.

    “The agency rolled out initiatives in order to ensure that technology continues to enable innovation and entrepreneurship while addressing challenges of the society,” Inuwa said.

    He added that the Nigeria COVID-19 Innovation Challenge, one of the initiatives, encouraged Nigerians to come up with innovations that could meet the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

    “NITDA Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Support Scheme supports startups and hubs across the country.

    “With over 130 hubs in Nigeria, we are finalising plans to ensure rapid intervention is provided for hubs and startups based on competence and carefully selected criteria.

    “The agency is following up the startups with highly innovative ideas that were selected for further incubation and mentorship and this action supports our local content policy, thereby creating more jobs,” he said.

    Inuwa added that the agency’s Startup Clinic also gathered young startups to meet with mentors, successful entrepreneurs, investors, industry specialist, business consultants and hub operators with the goal of solving problems they faced.

    He also said that agriculture, as the mainstay of the Nigerian economy, contributed a significant amount to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to National Bureau of Statistics.

    Inuwa said that if properly harnessed, agriculture would be a massive employer of labour.

    “In order to improve agricultural practices and create jobs, the agency initiated its Smart Agric Project where it engages farmers and focuses on using precision and smart farming techniques.

    “The techniques will ensure significant improvement in efficiency and productivity, thereby increasing crop yield, increase profit margin and create more jobs,’’ he said.

    He, however, emphasised that strengthened collaboration was needed to attract funding from multi-lateral organisations.

    According to him, the synergy will guide stakeholders in designing and implementing innovative solutions peculiar to the country’s need.

    He reiterated that NITDA was committed to building capacity of citizens and even more in the COVID-19 pandemic era.

  • 42% of Nigerians Lost Jobs to COVID – NBS

    42% of Nigerians Lost Jobs to COVID – NBS

    No fewer than 42 per cent of hitherto employed Nigerians lost their means of livelihood to the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

    It stated that the impact on employment and income had been widespread as “respondents who were working before the outbreak reported that they were not currently working due to COVID-19.”

    According to the maiden COVID-19 National Longitudinal Phone Survey (COVID-19 NLPS) report, which was published yesterday by the statistical agency, 79 per cent of Nigerians also reported that their households total income had decreased since mid-March while some households struggled to purchase staple foods namely yam, rice and beans during the seven days prior to the interview with 35-59 per cent of households who needed to purchase these staple, reporting that they were not able to buy them.

    The report which monitors the impact of the pandemic, using May 2020 as baseline, essentially highlighted the cost of the pandemic on employment, education, economy and households within the review period and is expected to be published on monthly basis going forward.

    It stated that the impact of the pandemic was most severe in the commerce, services and agricultural sectors of the economy.

    The NBS added that the economic shocks experienced by Nigerians in the few months after the outbreak of Coronavirus far exceeded shocks experienced between 2017 and 2019.

    The survey stated that an increase in prices of major food items represented the most widely reported shock experience by 85 per cent of the households since the outbreak compared to only 19 per cent between January 2017 and January 2019.

    The survey added that many households had struggled to cope with widespread shocks while 51 per cent of them resorting to reducing food consumption.

    The report stated that 26 per cent of households were unable to access medical treatment when they needed it during the same period.

    The NBS findings further showed that more Nigerians were concerned about the health and financial impacts of the virus.

    It said:”78 per cent of respondents were worried about themselves or their family members becoming seriously ill from the Coronavirus, while 92 per cent saw the Coronavirus as a threat to their households finances.

    The report however, indicated that the pandemic had also affected children education, stating that among households with children attending school prior their nationwide closure in March, only 62 per cent reported that their children had engaged in any learning/educational activities since the closure.

    It stated:”This brief presents findings from the baseline of this survey which was conducted between April 20 and May 11, 2020 and coincided with a federally mandated lockdown that was initiated on March.

    “COVID-19 NLPS households were drawn from the sample of households interviewed in 2018/2019 for Wave 4 of the General Household Survey—Panel (GHS- Panel).

    “The extensive information collected in the GHS- Panel just over a year prior to the pandemic provides a rich set of background information on COVID-19 NLPS house- holds which can be leveraged to assess the differential impacts of the pandemic in the country.”

  • COVID-19 Pandemic: 195 million jobs at risk globally – ILO report

    A report by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has predicted that the novel coronavirus [COVID-19] disease may wipe out as much as 195 million full-time jobs or 6.7 per cent of working hours globally in the second quarter of the year.

    The report highlighted some of the worst affected sectors and regions, and outlines policies to mitigate the crisis.

    It indicated that large reductions are foreseen in the Arab states (8.1 per cent, equivalent to five million full-time workers), Europe (7.8 per cent or 12 million full-time workers) and Asia and the Pacific (7.2 per cent or 125 million full-time workers).

    Huge losses are expected across various income groups, but especially in upper-middle income countries (seven per cent, 100 million full-time workers). These far exceed the effects of the 2008-9 financial crisis.

    The sectors most at risk are accommodation and food services, manufacturing, retail, and business and administrative activities.

    The report highlighted that the eventual increase in global unemployment during the year would depend substantially on future developments and policy measures.

    According to the report, there is a high risk that the end-of-year figure will be significantly higher than the initial ILO projection of 25 million.

    More than four out of five people (81 per cent) in the global workforce of 3.3 billion are affected by full or partial workplace closures.

    ILO Director-General Guy Ryder said: “Workers and businesses are facing catastrophe, in both developed and developing economies. We have to move fast, decisively, and together. The right, urgent, measures could make the difference between survival and collapse.”

    The report describes COVID-19 as the worst global crisis since World War II. The updated version includes sectoral and regional information on the effects of the pandemic.

    According to the study, 1.25 billion workers are employed in the sectors identified as being at high risk of drastic and devastating, increases in layoffs and reductions in wages and working hours.

    Other regions, particularly Africa, have higher levels of informality, which combined with a lack of social protection, high population density and weak capacity, pose severe health and economic challenges for governments, the report cautions.

    Worldwide, two billion people work in the informal sector (mostly in emerging and developing economies) and are particularly at risk.

    The report noted that large-scale, integrated, policy measures are needed, focusing on four pillars: supporting enterprises, employment and incomes; stimulating the economy and jobs; protecting workers in the workplace; and, using social dialogue between government, workers and employers to find solutions are needed to mitigate the effect of the pandemic.

    Ryder added: “This is the greatest test for international cooperation in more than 75 years. If one country fails, then we all fail. We must find solutions that help all segments of our global society, particularly those that are most vulnerable or least able to help themselves.

    “The choices we make today will directly affect the way this crisis unfolds and so the lives of billions of people.

    “With the right measures we can limit its impact and the scars it leaves. We must aim to build back better so that our new systems are safer, fairer and more sustainable than those that allowed this crisis to happen.”

    Meanwhile, the need to treat seafarers with dignity and respect during COVID-19 crisis has been emphasised by the ILO.

    The ILO urged that the seafarers should be treated as key workers, and be exempted from travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    A statement by officers of a special ILO tripartite maritime committee of the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC, 2006) also called on ILO member states to do all that they could to facilitate the delivery of essential medical supplies, fuel, water, spare parts and provisions to ships.

    The tripartite committee, which represents seafarers, ship owners and governments, reported that in some parts of the world suppliers have been prevented from boarding ships to give masks, overalls and other personal protective equipment to crews.

    According to the statement, ports in some parts of the world have also refused to allow some ships to enter because they had previously docked in areas affected by COVID-19, preventing vessels from obtaining essential supplies.

    The committee also underlined the importance of ensuring that the flow of essential goods, energy, food, medicines and other products around the world is not disrupted by measures that impede the safe and efficient movement of ships and the seafarers who operate them.

  • We have technologies that can bring immediate jobs — NBTI DG

    Mr Mohammed Jibrin, Director-General (DG) of National Board for Technology Incubation(NBTI), says the board is ready to bring in technologies that will create immediate jobs to support hardworking and performing governors.

    Jibrin said this on Monday in Abuja during a courtesy visit by Dr Aishatu Umar, Commissioner for Science, Technology and Innovation, Gombe state.

    The DG said there were also other technologies which could be deployed to create wealth for the people which to him, formed the real political strategy of governance that should happen.

    “People should be empowered; people should be happy, and productive. A situation should be created such that when one wakes up in the morning he will find a place to go,’’ he said.

    Jibrin, who enumerated several ongoing projects in Gombe which were near completion, said he was happy to note that science, technology and innovation on agricultural activities specifically took place in the technology incubation centre.

    He said the development was an added encouragement to the board because in 2016 it fabricated 10 threshers for threshing post harvest products in the premises of Ministry of Agric in Gombe.

    He also said the threshers were distributed to cooperative groups and in total there were over 100 beneficiaries.

    The DG disclosed that more were still demanded and he had sent a consultant to find out how the previous machines were utilised and he got the report that the people were happy.

    Jibrin informed the visitors that he had recently posted a new and experienced centre manager to Gombe upon the recommendations of management.

    He further said he wanted the Gombe centre to be more active, hence his advice to the new manager on the need to ensure stronger linkage to the state government.

    The DG pledged collaborations with the Honorable commissioner in order to move the programme forward and to realise its aims and objectives.

    Earlier, Dr Aishatu Umar, the Commissioner, said she came to solicit collaboration, synergy and technical advice from the NBTI.

    She said one of the objectives and manifestos of Gombe governor as part of his drive for science and technology was establishment of technology incubation centres in each local government area in Gombe state.

    “We have just commissioned an industrial park of over 10,000 hectares. You can see why we are here; and for it to be viable, technology incubation must be improved,’’ she said.

    She added that the people of Gombe needed to be sensitised in order to facilitate the establishment of 11 incubation centres in the 11 local government areas of the state.

  • Don’t wait on government for jobs, Ngige tells unemployed graduates

    Don’t wait on government for jobs, Ngige tells unemployed graduates

    Minister of Lbour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige has asked unemployed graduates to invest their time in creative jobs.

    According to Charles Akpan, a spokesman of the ministry, Ngige said this in Benin, Edo state, during a townhall meeting on popularisation of blue/green collar jobs among graduates of tertiary institutions, on Monday.

    Represented by Martina Nwordu, director of special duties and projects department in the ministry, Ngige advised the youth to look beyond government jobs.

    He said the richest youth in the world are not working for the government, but those involved in creative entrepreneurship.

    “The minister urged Nigerian youths to invest their talent in other job sectors, as the richest youth of the world, aged between 21 and 31 years, are not employees of government but smart entrepreneurs who distinguished themselves in creative skills in various areas,” Akpan said in a statement.

    “The minister disclosed that the purpose of the meeting, which held concurrently in four other geo-political zones of the federation, was to sensitise representatives of key stakeholders in graduate employment on the benefits of blue/green-collar jobs as an alternative response to the challenges of graduate unemployment.”

    Ngige asked stakeholders to cooperate with the government on the programme as it would also contribute to achieving the president’s promise to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in ten years.

  • ICYMI: Nigerian youths lack skills for available jobs – Tinubu

    ICYMI: Nigerian youths lack skills for available jobs – Tinubu

    The Senator representing Lagos Central Senatorial District, Mrs Oluremi Tinubu, has said that Nigerian youths lack the skill-set for available jobs in the country, thereby making them unemployable.

    Tinubu, who spoke at a workshop organised by her senatorial office for 260 interns in Lagos yesterday, said several of those who are able to secure jobs are not ready to work, they only want the security of a fixed income, and unwilling to make impact, while some have no idea of how to adjust to working in a corporate environment.
    She said this was why her senatorial office is placing emphasis on skills development and increasing knowledge base for the youths. She explained: “This Work Experience Programme (WEP) is borne out of the need to inculcate in our unemployed graduates, the skills, work place etiquette, and hands-on experience required to make them more attractive to potential employers, and successful in the labour market.
    The 260 interns drawn from Lagos Senatorial District, she said, would be assigned to corporate organisations to acquire skills and work experience. “Thus, we have put together this workshop as a precursor to your resumption at your various places of assignment. The theme of this workshop, ‘Building Youth Capacity for Effective Engagement’, sums up why we are here. It is to ensure that you are off to a good start, on a sound footing and with the right ideas,” declared Tinubu.

    The senator disclosed that “an allowance of forty thousand naira (N 40,000) will be paid by my office to cover your day-to-day expenses throughout the duration of the programme. Half of it will be paid at the onset of the programme and the balance paid upon receipt of letter from your assigned organisation, certifying that you took part in and completed the intern ship.”
    The All Progressives Congress (APC) Lagos Central Senatorial District Leader, Prince Tajudeen Olusi, hailed Senator Tinubu for the numerous empowerment programmes she had embarked on to assist the less-privileged in her constituency. He described the senator as a pacesetter, saying no senator in Nigeria can beat her records in empowerment programmes.