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Tag: Unemployment

  • Don’t seek jobs, create jobs – Bishop Oyedepo tells Nigerian youths

    Don’t seek jobs, create jobs – Bishop Oyedepo tells Nigerian youths

    Chancellor of Covenant University, Ota, Ogun, Dr David Oyedepo, has charged Nigerian youths to be job creators rather than job seekers in order to be more impactful.

    Bishop Oyedepo, who gave the charge while speaking on Thursday in Ota, stressed Nigeria has  unemployment challenge, adding that job creation would tackle it.

    Oyedepo implored the youth to be change agents and solution providers. The chancellor said that  youths should be contributors rather than job seekers. According to him, every contributor becomes successful.

    “You can’t be a contributor and end up a failure. What you don’t resist has the right to remain, and what you don’t confront, you can’t conquer. Think of a problem you can solve,” he said.

    Oyedepo urged the youth to think out of the box and get different but desired results.

  • Nigeria sitting on keg of gun powder – Obasanjo

    Nigeria sitting on keg of gun powder – Obasanjo

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said that Nigeria might be sitting on a keg of gunpowder, praying that government do the right thing before it’s too late.

    According to Obasanjo during an interview with the Financial Times, Nigeria youth are restive because they have no skill,They have no empowerment and they have no employment.

    “We are all sitting on a keg of gunpowder. And my prayer is that we will do the right thing before it’s too late,” he warned.

    The elder statesman’s stance comes following ongoing #Endbadgovernance nationwide protests by the youths over hunger and hardship in the country.

    Youths across the country have embarked on protests since August 1, a development which has since escalated with reports and incidences of violence and lootings recorded across the country.

    Speaking further, Obasanjo said Nigeria’s economy would have been much better if it had not relied on just crude oil production.

    He described the country’s reliance on crude oil as a “deadly mistake”.

    “I believe we made a deadly mistake by putting all our eggs in one basket by relying on oil. We had a very important commodity, gas, but we were flaring it,” he said.

    the failure of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), the International Oil Companies, and other national oil companies to ramp up oil production to meet the country’s needs.

    Obasanjo said Nigeria could have invested more in Agriculture as against crude oil.

    “We ignored Agriculture which could have been the centrepiece of our investment.”

     

  • ILO raises alarm about global unemployment in 2024

    ILO raises alarm about global unemployment in 2024

    Global unemployment is expected to rise in 2024, with growing inequality and stagnant productivity also a cause for concern on the economic horizon.

    The International Labour Organisation (ILO) gave this warning in a statement  on Wednesday.

    The UN labour agency stated that just over five per cent of the world’s workforce is without a job, according to the World Employment and Social Outlook Trends 2024 report.

    This is a better situation than before the pandemic but it isn’t set to last, as an extra two million people are expected to be looking for a job over the next 12 months, the ILO said.

    The UN agency’s findings chime with a new World Bank report released on Tuesday,  indicating that the global economy is on track for the slowest half-decade of growth in 30 years.

    In addition to the uncertain jobs market outlook, ILO noted that the majority of the world’s richest nations had seen living standards eroded, because of inflation, which is now in decline in many major economies.

    The erosion of living standards resulting from inflation is,“unlikely to be compensated quickly”, the UN agency said.

    ILO experts underscored that there were significant differences between higher and lower income countries. While the jobs gap rate (the number of jobless who are looking for work) in 2023 was 8.2 per cent in richer nations, it stood at 20.5 per cent in poorer countries.

    Similarly, while the 2023 unemployment rate stuck at 4.5 per cent for wealthier countries, it was 5.7 per cent in low-income countries.

    ILO Director-General, Gilbert Houngbo warned that “falling living standards and weak productivity combined with persistent inflation create the conditions for greater inequality and undermine efforts to achieve social justice.

    “And without greater social justice we will never have a sustainable recovery.” He called for workforce challenges overall to be tackled quickly and effectively.”

    Despite quickly declining after 2020, the number of workers living in extreme poverty (earning less than US$2.15 per person per day) grew by about a million in 2023.

    “Income inequality has also widened, the trends show the erosion of real disposable income, bodes ill for aggregate demand and a more sustained economic recovery.”

    Despite various policy initiatives to tackle the underground economy, the number of people employed informally is expected to remain static, accounting for around 58 per cent of the global workforce in 2024.

    The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared an end to COVID-19 as a public health emergency in May 2023 but the aftershocks of the pandemic were still being felt, the ILO report revealed.

    Residual symptoms and health problems for those 20 per cent or so who suffered ‘long COVID’ persist for many and have impacted productivity.”

    Many who re-entered the labour market post-pandemic tended not to be working the same number of hours while the number of sick days taken had increased significantly.

    Women’s participation in the job market had bounced back quickly but a notable gender gap still persisted, especially in emerging and developing nations. Youth unemployment rates continued to present a challenge.

    The report also found that despite technological advances and increased investment, productivity growth had continued to slow.

  • More Nigerians enter unemployment in Q2 2023 – NBS

    More Nigerians enter unemployment in Q2 2023 – NBS

    More Nigerians entered into unemployment in Q2 2023, a report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed.

    The NBS revealed the unemployment rate in Nigeria increased to 4.2 per cent in Q2 2023 from the 4.1 per cent recorded in Q1 2023.

    The NBS said this in its Nigeria Labour Force Survey for Q2 2023, released in Abuja on Thursday.

    It said the unemployment rate was defined as the share of the labour force who were not employed but who were actively searching and were available for work.

    In terms of educational attainment, the report said the rate of unemployment among persons with post-secondary education was 8.0 per cent in Q2 2023.

    “Those with upper secondary education was 5.4 per cent, while those with lower secondary education was 3.7 per cent, 3.0 per cent for those with primary education and 2.5 per cent for those with no formal education.”

    It said the unemployment rate among youth aged (15-24 years) in Q2 2023 was 7.2 per cent compared to the 6.9 per cent recorded in Q1 2023.

    The report said the unemployment rate among men was 3.5 per cent and 5.9 per cent among women in Q2 2023.

    “The unemployment rate in urban areas was 5.9 per cent in Q2 2023, which was an increase from the 5.4 per cent recorded in Q1 2023.

    “While the unemployment rate in rural areas was 2.5 per cent in Q2 2023, which was a decline from the 2.9 per cent recorded in Q1 2023.”

    The NBS said time-related underemployment in Q2 2023 was 11.8 per cent compared to 12.2 per cent recorded in Q1 2023.

    It said time-related underemployment rate was the share of employed people who were working less than 40 hours per week, but who would be willing and available to work more.

    “The share of employed men that were underemployed was 8.4 per cent while the share of employed women that were underemployed was 15.3 per cent in Q2 2023.

    “The underemployment rate was 10.3 per cent in urban areas and 13.2 per cent in rural areas.”

    The NBS said the share of employed persons aged 15 to 24 years that were underemployed was 19.3 per cent.

    The report said the combined rate of unemployment and time-related underemployment as a share of the labour force population (LU2) was 15.5 per cent in Q2 2023.

    The NBS said the labour force participation rate among the working-age population in Nigeria was 80 per cent in Q2 2023 compared to 79.9 recorded in Q1 2023.

    The report said the participation rate among men was 82.1 per cent while for women it was 78.8 per cent.

    “The participation rate was 78.4 per cent in urban areas and 82.6 per cent in rural areas in Q2 2023.”

    It said the employment-to-population ratio, which was the proportion of the working-age population that was employed was 77.1 per cent in Q2 2023.

    The report said the employment-to-population ratio for men and women was 79.3 per cent and 74.9 per cent, respectively.

    “The employment-to-population ratio in urban areas was 73.8 per cent compared to 80.5 per cent in rural areas in Q2 2023.”

    The report said 88.0 per cent of employed Nigerians were primarily self-employed with the remaining 12.0 per cent engaged as employees(wage employment) in Q2 2023.

    It said 85.2 per cent of employed men were self-employed, while 91.0 per cent of employed women were self-employed.

    “While men and women engaged as employees(wage employment) was reported at 14.8 per cent and 9.0 per cent, respectively.

    The report said 8.0 per cent of the working-age population were in subsistence agriculture.

    The NBS said the informal employment rate in Q2 2023 was 92.7 per cent.

    It said in Q2 2023, the percentage of youth (15-24 years) identified as Young Persons Not in Employment, Education nor Training (NEET) was 13.8 per cent.

    “This is an increase from the 12.1 per cent and 10.0 per cent recorded in Q4 2022 and Q1 2023, respectively,” the NBS said.

  • FG targets 0.6% poverty rate, 6.3% unemployment rate

    FG targets 0.6% poverty rate, 6.3% unemployment rate

    The Federal Government says it targets to reduce poverty rate to 0.6 per cent and unemployment rate to 6.3 per cent by 2030 and 2050 agenda.

    The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Sen. Atiku Bagudu, said this at a news briefing for the 29th Nigerian Economic Summit (#NES29) in Abuja on Thursday.

    The theme of the #NES29 scheduled for Oct. 23 to Oct. 24 at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja is “Pathways to Sustainable Economic Transformation and Inclusion”.

    Bagudu said that the theme was chosen to discuss the imperatives for transforming the nation’s economy while ensuring inclusivity.

    He said that the discussions around the theme would be on five sub-themes; namely, stimulating economic growth and mobilizing finance for sustainable development.

    They also include harnessing human capital development, promoting national cohesion inclusion and reforming public institutions, among others.

    Bagudu said that the sub-themes would address relevant pillars in the National Development Plan (NDP) 2021-2025, the Nigeria Agenda 2050 and the Renewed Hope Agenda.

    “The main target of the Nigeria Agenda 2050 is to increase the country’s per capita GDP to 6,000 dollars and 33,000 dollars by 2030 and 2050 respectively.

    “It will also bring the poverty rate to 0.6 per cent and unemployment rate to 6.3 per cent, while transiting the economy to the highest per capita GDP in the group of upper-middle income economies.

    “The plan will be effectively implemented by successive governments through six number 5-Year Medium-Term National Development Plans and Annual Budgets,” he said.

    The minister said that the renewed hope agenda and eight priority areas of the current administration were aimed at fast-tracking the goals of the Nigeria Agenda 2050

    Also, the NDP 2021-2025 with a double-digit growth rate and inclusive development.

    “The ministry is in the process of conducting the mid-term review of the NDP 2021-2025 with the purpose of fine-tuning the plan and ensuring that the renewed hope agenda of the current government is incorporated into the NDP 2021-2025.

    “The Ministry will welcome innovative ideas from the stakeholders at the summit to ensure its effective integration into the NDP 2021-2025,” Bagudu said.

    He said that the success of the summit would depend on the active and deliberate participation of all critical stakeholders.

    The stakeholders, according to him include, the federal government, sub-national government, private sector operators, civil society organisations, the media and development partners,” Bagudu said.

    The minister commended the contributions and commitments of the various corporate organisations and government institutions towards the successful hosting of the summit.

    The Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) Mr Olaniyi Yusuf, said their objective was to promote development in the country.

    “In the face of a rapidly changing global economic landscape and increasing inequalities, a strategy for sustained growth must ensure a form of industrialization that makes opportunities accessible to all people and broadly distributes income and non-income gains across society.

    “Our inability to fully integrate solutions to social issues into targeted industrial and economic policies undermines the developmental potential of our country, thus widening income inequality gaps.

    “While there has been a broad decline in poverty worldwide, both extreme and moderate poverty remain and continue to increase in our country.

    “Low productivity, inadequately diversified local economic activity, high unemployment rates and job insecurity remain a challenge for our country,” he said.

    Yusuf said that the country’s pressing concern was the need to translate economic growth into improved living standards for all its citizens.

    “In spite of experiencing growth at an average rate of over the past years, the country grapples with rising unemployment, income disparity, and multidimensional poverty.

    “These challenges are worsened by an uneven allocation of resources, macroeconomic instability, and institutional deficiencies.

    “Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in 2022 revealed that approximately 62.9 per cent of the population (i.e., 133 million people) live in multidimensional poverty, threatening the development of a vibrant middle class,” he said

    Yusuf said that the country’s youthful population presented a tremendous opportunity for accelerating national development through entrepreneurship and innovation.

    He said: “With a large pool of creative and ambitious young minds, the country has the potential to foster a vibrant start-up ecosystem and drive economic growth.

    “By leveraging technology and innovation, these creative minds can introduce disruptive solutions, create jobs, and contribute to the overall progress of the Nigerian economy,” he said.

    The chairman said that 2023 presented another opportunity to demonstrate a strong political will to tackle Nigeria’s socio-economic challenges.

    “Hence, the NESG aims to focus on enhancing the role of entrepreneurship, skills and innovation, as well as sub-national and local governments, as drivers of economic growth and development.

    “The ultimate objective is to foster the creation of a more inclusive, sustainable, and equitable economy.

    “The summit aims to foster collaboration among key stakeholders from diverse sectors and devise effective strategies to promote good governance at all levels of government,” he said.

    The NES was organized annually by the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning and the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG).

  • Unemployment rate increases  in China as youth confront bleak employment Market

    Unemployment rate increases  in China as youth confront bleak employment Market

    Chinese graduates shared photos of themselves theatrically throwing their degrees into bins, underscoring the bleak outlook as youth unemployment sits at a record high.

    The jobless rate could rise even further this summer, analysts warned, providing another headache for the government as it tries to jumpstart the country’s sluggish post-Covid economy.

    With well-paid jobs few and far between, young people told the media  they were opting to remain in university, while others are scrambling for limited government jobs as opportunities in the private sector dry up.

    Sampson Li, who graduated this month with a master’s degree in software engineering, was looking for work but has given up to apply for a doctorate instead.

    The 24-year-old told the media he passed three rounds of interviews at a major tech company in Shenzhen, dubbed China’s Silicon Valley, before the employer said it had frozen recruitments.

    “Three other companies asked me to take a lower pay than the market rate,” he said. “I can’t survive with that salary in this city.”

    Data released last Thursday by the National Bureau of Statistics showed May’s unemployment rate for people aged 16-24 hit 20.8 percent, an increase on the previous record of 20.4 percent hit in April.

    Larry Hu, Macquarie Group’s chief China economist, warned that the figure could increase further in July when 11.6 million more college graduates start looking for work.

    “Corporates are reluctant to hire because of soft consumer demand, while consumers are reluctant to spend because of the weak labour market,” he told the media.

    “As a result, policy is the only game changer at this stage.”

    State crackdown

    At a State Council meeting in April, Premier Li Qiang pledged to ensure stable employment opportunities for young people.

    “We have to take measures to stabilise the scale of employment in manufacturing and foreign trade enterprises, optimise university curriculums, and improve the quality of vocational education and skills training based on the market demand,” Li said.

    However, a hoped-for raft of stimulus measures for the economy, including help to boost the jobs market, fell flat, as did an interest rate cut Tuesday, which was less than expected.

    One of the reasons China’s once-freewheeling private sector is seeing much slower growth is because of a sweeping government crackdown on property companies, tech giants and private tutoring firms.

    “While Beijing runs a state-led economy, private companies provide up to 80 percent of China’s urban jobs,” Yu Jie, a senior China research fellow at the London-based think tank Chatham House, wrote.

    These sectors relied on “young people willing to work long hours for lower salaries”, she said.

    Liu Qian, armed with a degree in fintech, has been job hunting for the past six months.

    “There were dozens of fintech start-ups when I entered university, but many have disappeared over the past two years after the government tightened rules governing the sector,” she said.

    “My parents now want me to study for the civil services exam, to see if I can get a job in a state-owned company.”

    The odds are tough, though.

    More than 7.7 million applicants took the civil service exam this year, to qualify for about 200,000 government jobs at national and provincial levels, state media reported.

    Frustration over the fierce competition for any well-remunerated work has fuelled the online memes of throwing away degrees, with graduates also posting photos of themselves sprawled on the ground or in various poses of despair.

    The pictures are a reference to the now-prevalent counterculture of “lying flat” — young people rejecting the rat race of urban living for a simpler, less professionally ambitious life.

    There is generally a mismatch in skills possessed by young job seekers and the demands of the labour market, Chatham House’s Yu said.

    The services sector, for example, remains a rare bright spot with millions travelling and dining out after three years of pandemic restrictions were lifted last December.

    But the lack of opportunities for vocational training means young people are ill-equipped to work in it, Yu said.

    Many of the jobs that are available are poorly paid and arduous.

    Tan Yong, 17, moved to Shenzhen from neighbouring Meizhou last year after dropping out of high school.

    He first found work at an assembly line making air conditioners, but was forced to leave after six months when the production line moved to Vietnam.

    Now Tan works as a rider for a food delivery company.

    “The work is difficult, and we make less than five yuan on most deliveries,” he said.

    “But many young people don’t want to work in factories where you need to stand for nearly seven hours.”

  • Reason for violent extremism in sub-Saharan Africa revealed

    Reason for violent extremism in sub-Saharan Africa revealed

    The United Nations (UN) Development Programme (UNDP) has disclosed that lack of job opportunities is the leading factor driving people to join fast-growing violent extremist groups in sub-Saharan Africa.

    UNDP disclosed this in a report released on Tuesday, titled, “Journey to Extremism in Africa: Pathways to Recruitment and Disengagement.’’

    The report underscores the importance of economic factors as drivers of recruitment.

    Lack of income, the lack of job opportunities and livelihoods, means that “desperation is essentially pushing people to take up opportunities, with whoever offers that,” Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator, said while speaking at the report launch.

    Steiner said a “toxic mix” was being created of poverty, destitution, and lack of opportunity, with so many citing the “urgent need to find livelihoods”.

    “It is tantamount to a society “no longer having a rule of law, turning to some of these violent extremists’ groups to provide security.”

    ”Security-driven counter-terrorism responses are often costly and minimally effective, the UNDP Administrator,” said, adding that investments in preventive approaches to violent extremism were inadequate.

    Terrorist groups such as ISIS, Boko Haram or Al-Qaeda emerge due to local conditions, but then begin to amass weapons and secure financing – in the case of the Sahel, allowing other cells to resource themselves independently.

    He added that around 25 per cent of all recruits cited a lack of job opportunities as the primary reason, while around 40 per cent said they were “in urgent need of livelihoods at the time of the recruitment”.

    Sub-Saharan Africa has become the new global epicentre of violent extremism with almost half of global terrorism deaths recorded there in 2021.

    The report draws from interviews with nearly 2,200 different people in eight countries: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, and Sudan.

    More than 1,000 of those interviewees are former members of violent extremist groups, both voluntary and forced recruits.

    A quarter of those who volunteered said the main factor was unemployment – a 92 per cent increase from the last UNDP study of violent extremism in 2017.

    Around 48 per cent of voluntary recruits told researchers that there had been “a triggering event” leading to them signing up.

    Of that figure, some “71 per cent cited human rights abuses they had suffered, such as government action,” Nirina Kiplagat said, main author of the report and UNDP’s Regional Peacebuilding Advisor.

    Fundamental human rights abuses such as seeing a father arrested, or a brother taken away by national military forces, were among those triggers cited.

    According to the report, peer pressure from family members or friends, is cited as the second more common driver for recruitment, including women who are following their spouses into an extremist group.

    Religious ideology is the third most common reason for joining up, cited by around 17 per cent of interviewees. This presents a 57 per cent decrease from the 2017 findings.

    According to UNDP, the new report is part of a series of three, analysing the prevention of violent extremism and it highlights the urgent need to move away from security-driven responses to development-based approaches focused on prevention.

    It calls for greater investment in basic services including child welfare, education and calls for an investment in rehabilitation and community-based reintegration services.

  • FG blames crude oil theft on worsening unemployment situation

    FG blames crude oil theft on worsening unemployment situation

    The Federal Government has attributed the menace of crude oil theft to the worsening unemployment situation in the country.

    Dr Chris Ngige, the Minister of Labour and Employment, said this while declaring open the 8th Meeting of the National Employment Council on Friday in Abuja.

    Mr Olajide Oshundun, the Head, Press and Public Relations, quoted the minister as saying this in

    Ngige, who is the chairman of the council, said that oil theft has made Nigeria to become a mendicant nation, resorting to begging for survival.

    According to him, this menace has hampered the efforts of the federal government towards creating jobs for the country’s teeming youthful population.

    “I am aware that you people know that we are at a very critical stage in our nation’s life. We have economic problems all over the world, but our own in Nigeria is self inflicted. Our main source of revenue is oil.

    “But, in the oil sector, two things are happening. One, Nigeria is not meeting her production quota. Our OPEC production quota used to be 2.2 million barrels per day. It slipped down to 1.8 million barrels.

    “Now, we cannot even produce the 1.8 million barrels. We are hovering around 1.1 million barrels per day, and they told us that some people are stealing our crude oil.

    “This is a very serious matter because it has made us become very mendicant. We are now a mendicant nation, resorting to begging for survival,’’ he said.

    He added that the nation cannot continue that way because it has hampered efforts to create jobs for our teeming youthful population.

    The minister further said: “Some people were analysing the situation and said that when we started the country, the white men came here and took all the jobs.

    “ We were seeing them with white shirts and ties and the jobs became known as white collar jobs. Later, our own people started going to university and after graduation, joined in the ‘white collar jobs’.

    “Our colonial masters left and bequeathed to us another group of colonial masters, which comprised the indigenous people.

    `Those who took over from the colonial masters did not plan for tomorrow. Number one is that our population is growing uncontrollably.

    “Our population astronomically outpaces our Gross Domestic Product (GDP). We are neither finding our youthful population white collar jobs, nor making arrangement for them to do the blue collar jobs.

    “Blue collar jobs are the ones you do with your hands, applying skills,’’ he said.

    Ngige also noted that only few blue-collar jobs were created in the transport sector, especially in rail and maritime, without producing indirect jobs to complement them, while the situation was made worse by foreigners.

    He added that this was especially Chinese and other West African people who have taken over most of the blue collar jobs.

    He also blamed the overflowing joblessness for the youth restiveness all over the country.

    “Unemployment is not confined to Nigeria, but our own is worse because in other climes, people are earning money from blue collar jobs. Here, we have no blue collar jobs for our workforce.

    “We have polytechnics but they are competing with universities for degrees. We see a polytechnic say it is awarding degree. We have technical colleges that want to equate their certificate with a degree.

    “Nobody is interested in having technical skills. Everybody wants to be drawing and designing in air-conditioned offices, which is what the degree man does. The degree men are not supposed to be the implementers.

    “ The field implementers are the technologists and technicians and in proper climes, they are very well paid and live decent lives,’’ he said.

    According to him, to reverse this ugly trend, there is need for a handshake between the National Employment Council and the National Skills Council, which is domiciled in both the Federal Ministry of Labour and Ministry Education.

    He said this also comprised the ministries of Industries and Trade, Works, Power, Science and Technology, and all other government creations, with a sense of urgency.

    Ngige therefore recommended the incorporation of the Federal Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy into the National Employment Council, being that we are in a digital age which made for the creation of digital jobs.

    He described digital jobs as the best way to absolve the bulging mass of youths that are now unemployed.

    “We need to also look at NNPC and gas pipeline projects. Nigeria is doing two projects now, the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) and the one that transverses the West African Line into Morocco and extending to Europe.

    “So, these are all ongoing critical infrastructure projects with large quantum of jobs to be created from them,’’ he said.

    He welcomed the proposal for the creation of labour desks in form of job synergy points in the ministries, departments and agencies where needed in order to facilitate job monitoring and creation.

    “We conceived concept of labour desks for trade disputes and that was why we started in the ministries and agencies that have propensity for a lot of trade disputes.

    “Now, that this Employment Council is thinking ahead, you should also bring a proposal so that we can do reforms through the Ministry of Labour.

    `This will ensure to have job creation contents in conjunction with the trade dispute aspect, in addition to managing strike actions,’’ he said.

  • 2023: We will tackle unemployment, insecurity – Peter Obi vows

    2023: We will tackle unemployment, insecurity – Peter Obi vows

    Mr Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) for the 2023 election said in Lafia on Saturday that he would tackle unemployment and  insecurity if voted into power.

    Obi disclosed this at the flag-off of his presidential campaign. He said he would tackle insecurity to pave way for economic growth and development.

    The presidential candidate also pledged to create jobs for youths to lift them off poverty and deprivation.

    “I assure you that if we come into power, we will address farmers and herders clashes and farmers will go back to their farms. We will tackle insecurity bedevilling the entire nation.

    “We will also support youths because today, our youths do not have hope. We will support them to reduce the high level of criminality in the country,’’ he said.

    Obi also promised to support agriculture in Nasarawa State to ensure food sufficiency and food security.

    “The prices of goods will come down. Today many Nigerians are finding it difficult to feed themselves. If India can feed herself, Nigeria can also feed herself.

    “We will also solve the flooding problem ravaging the country and ensure that there is adequate supply of electricity for industries to grow.

    “When the LP wins, there will be no more strikes in universities. The government will comprise of youths and women. We will provide fertiliser to farmers across the nation,’’ he promised.

    Obi called on Nigerians to vote for him and all candidates of the LP to enable them to revive the economy.

    In his remarks, Mr Julius Abure, LP National Chairman, appreciated Nasarawa State’s people for coming out en-masse to support the party and its candidates to enable them to succeed at the 2023 polls.

    He said the LP would deliver Nigeria from insecurity, unemployment, poverty, hunger and starvation.

    “In 2023, we must change the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Part (PDP).

    “You all should have your Permanent Voter Cards so that you will be allowed to vote for candidates of your choice.

    “Our presidential candidate is strong. We need an energetic and vibrant person. The nation has been suffering from economic hardship because of the wrong choice of candidates,’’ he said.

    He called on the electorate to collect their Permanent Voter Cards and vote for LP to change the fortune of the country.

    Earlier, Mr Alexander Emmanuel, Nassarawa State Chairman of LP, thanked the leadership of the party for choosing the state as the venue for the presidential campaign flag-off.

    Emmanuel promised to mobilise grassroots support for Peter Obi as well as educate the electorates on the need to vote for all candidates of the LP in 2023.

  • Ikeja Chamber of Commerce unveils platform to tackle poverty

    Ikeja Chamber of Commerce unveils platform to tackle poverty

    The Ikeja Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture and the Responsible Leaders Concepts Ltd., announce that preparations have been concluded to inaugurate a “Video Wealth” project aimed at tackling unemployment and poverty around the world especially, in Africa.

    The “Video Wealth” provides an opportunity for young and old people alike to make money, using their phones and data, one of the organisers of the event, told newsmen.

    The Founder of Responsible Leaders Concepts and the President of Ikeja Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, Amb. Dr. Edward Olutoke, said in a statement that the group had set up veritable and highly impactful platforms for the discovery, rewarding and promotion of talents in Nigeria and the world at large.

    He said that the platforms would give people the opportunity to turn their passion into videos which would turn to good money for them.

    “This project is for everybody, Justin anyone who has a phone and has not been making money with it, your phone is an asset to put money in your pocket not a liability.

    “We are taking internet money to the grassroots; to the people who really need it,” Olutoke said.

    According to him, this platform will be presented to the public in Lagos on Oct. 30 at Eko FM Hall, LTV Compound, Ikeja, Lagos, by 4p.m.

    He added that the same event would take place at Sharon Ultimate Hotels, Area 3, Garki, Abuja, on Oct. 31 by 5 p.m.

    “This is novel, it is fresh, it will take millions out of poverty. This is our own gift to Nigeria at 62.

    “It’s an assignment, we encourage all well meaning people in the world to join us in empowering our young people and linking many more people to the huge money making opportunities on the internet.

    “Interested members of the public who may not have the opportunity to be at the unveiling can access the free opportunity on www.videowealth.live.

    “Video content is the new gold and oil in the world, Africans should not be left out.

    “This new video wealth project is a game changer, it’s what you need to take a look at,” Olutoke said.