The minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo has said that the plan by the Federal Government to engage millions of Nigerians in gainful employment is not necessarily in civil service.
He said that the assumption that the kind of employment the federal government wants to create is in civil service is wrong.
“That’s not the idea of employment. All about the world, employment in public services account for less than 1% of employment in the country. So it will be very short sighted of us as government; very myopic, very, like wrong game approach to think that we want to lift out of poverty and creates employment by opening up gaps in the civil service to employ people.”
Keyamo, who spoke to newsmen today, June 23, at the Presidential villa in Abuja, asked: “how many are we going to employ for the 33% that’s so high. The unemployment figures are indefensible. The 33% was compounded more by the COVID-19 scourge, the whole world is reeling.
“So we need to react more innovatively to create employment. And for us, we are working very hard to ensure that we skill up Nigerians.
“The way to approach on employment is to skill up the populace. That’s the way out to encourage the small, the macro small and medium scale entrepreneurs; support their businesses, ensure that people are self employed, skill them up. “That’s what the NPower is doing. In NPower whether you are graduate or not, go and learn a skill, so that you can be self employed and feed yourself. “Those are Employment we are creating those people who are skilling up.”
