FG Sets To Create Five Million New Jobs For Nigerian Youths
The Federal Government has revealed it has anchored an Investment in Digital and Creative Industries, a $ 617,7 million project, towards training more than two million youths in the latest in technology and creative sector, which would unleash five million new jobs in the country.
This is just as an Economist, Dr Ayo Teriba has advised the Federal Government to de-emphasise Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as the basis for revenue generation especially in terms of taxes to GDp, but depend more on Assets.
He said: “Output dependence is past. Countries like USA and Saudi Arabia are now focusing on assets. They are connecting global liquidity to local assets. Nigeria is rich in assets that need to be taken to the market, but we suffer needlessly due to failure to leverage on our assets.”
Teriba also called on the Central Bank of Nigeria to build up the extant inadequate external reserves, especially now that it is mandating banks to shore up their minimum Capital, otherwise sooner or later, the fluctuations in exchange rate will rubbish the recapitalisation of banks.
Meanwhile, the Vice President, Kashim Shettima mentioned the recent $500 million for lithium development in Nasarawa state as one of the giant investments.
“Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. President has been able to secure more than $20 billion in potential investments into the country, including $14 billion from India, $250 million from the Netherlands, and commitments of $500 million for lithium development in Nasarawa state, as well as another $500 million from Germany and into renewables,” he said.
“The Siemens power sector projects picks up speed presently and will be able to show a salutary effect on our energy sufficiency in good time,” he added.
The Federal Government said it had also launched a project tagged: Outsource to Nigeria Initiative (OTNI) which hopes to train and empower 74,000 young Nigerians and get them ready for the global market.
Vice President Kashim Shettima stated this on Thursday while speaking at the 2024 Vanguard Economic Discourse themed: “Reforms in the Era of Global Economic Uncertainty: Whither Nigeria,” which took place in Victoria Island, Lagos.
He said the step became necessary because of the rapidity with which technology was evolving on a per second basis, with the citizens now having to “live in the age of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and the Internet of Things.”
The vice president, who was represented at the event by Dr. Tope Fasua, his Special Adviser (SA) on Economic Matters, noted that the country had a number of concerns to wrestle down internally, ranging from insecurity, to economic diversification, energy stability, food insecurity, industrialization, productivity, high inflation, among others, asserting that the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration was valiantly addressing many of them in a decisive manner to bring about solutions in a short while and make the country “take an elevated space in the pantheon of nations.”
“Innovation has now developed wings on its own, leaving human beings guessing where the next novelty will come from and what type of impact it will have on humans. We are in the age of Technological Unemployment which Maynard Keynes tried to broach in his time.
“This is why my office has anchored what is known as the i-DICE (Investment in Digital and Creative Industries), a $617,7 million project in the first instance, which is geared at training more than 2 million youths in the latest innovations in the tech and creative sector while unleashing 5 million new jobs in Nigeria.
“We have also launched the OTNI (Outsource to Nigeria Initiative), which hopes to train and tool 74,000 young Nigerians and get them ready for the global market. More on these shortly,” Shettima stated.
“Internally, Nigeria has a number of concerns to wrestle down; from insecurity, to economic diversification, to energy stability, food insecurity, industrialization, productivity, high inflation and a host of others, “ he admitted.
But the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is valiantly tackling many of these issues in a decisive manner.
Shetima noted that in a short while, every Nigerian will see clearly emerging, a new, fully energized nation, ready to face the world and to take an elevated space in the pantheon of nations.
The vice-president, while urging for everybody’s contribution to this new vista, which the country sought for, further urged Nigerians to shun unproductive cynicism and view their nation positively, notice some of positively profound changes happening around them, and to make themselves available for these new opportunities.”l
“If there is a single word I can search for, to describe the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, it has to be ‘decisiveness’. One of the greatest attributes of leadership is visioning. Another is decisiveness in doing what may not be popular but is necessary.
“And as we all line up behind a great leader who embeds a great vision for our nation, we are committed to the success of key reforms, chiefly around the removal of petroleum subsidies and finding a workable value for the Naira. May 29, 2023 was a decisive moment and we believe that the promises of our government will be attained, under the leadership of our President,” the vice president said.
Speaking further, Shettima noted that the Tinubu administration had tried to institute transparency in governance, curb waste and excesses being paraded as subsidies, saying that it had embarked on reforms that would eventually stabilize the exchange rates so that investors, businesses, and households, may be able to plan forward with a level of improved certainty.
Besides, he said the administration had equally instituted about 100 new policies impacting Nigerians in all ways of life, declaring that these were basic reforms that necessary to propel the country forward.
“Firstly, we have created at least 5 new ministries (Gas, Housing, Tourism, Creative Economy, and Blue Economy) to help capture the productivity of our human capital in some erstwhile neglected sectors.
“These new ministries’ efforts are geared at adding considerably to the growth of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Mr President also recently rejigged his economic team, coopting the vast experience and savviness of top private sector leaders, alongside forming an economic emergency task force.
“Ladies and gentlemen, in terms of projects and programs, I want to draw your attention to a few of them. We have launched and put in place a N200 billion Business Intervention Fund for our Nano, micro, small and medium companies.
“We have 39 million and they constitute about 11% of the global population of MSMEs. This underlines the Nigerian spirit. Mr President keeps reminding us that our first name is CAN-DO, and our surname is SPIRIT.
“In the housing sector, we have since commenced the building of a target 250,000 housing units in what we call the Renewed Hope Cities. A portal was opened just yesterday to allow for a transparent and democratic approach for Nigerians to get involved.
“On infrastructure, we have launched a N20 trillion Renewed Hope Infrastructure Fund, with hopes of attracting a lot more investments to total transform infrastructure in Nigeria. The 700km Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway is only one of those initiatives. There is also the 1,000km Badagry- Sokoto highway which will open up so many communities that it passes through. Add to that, the 481km trans-Sahara road which links the Southeast of Nigeria with FCT, and Benue, Kogi, and Nasarawa States. Nigeria is seeing an outburst of well-constructed roads at the national and subnational level and this will continue under our administration,” he stated.
He assured of the administration’s determination to achieve a $1 trillion GDP by 2031, which strongly suggests that Nigeria’s economy must start growing in double digits, adding that FG will capture every growth from every sector in the economy.
Shettima conveyed his “profound best wishes” to the Founder of the Vanguard Newspaper, Mr Sam Amuka Pemu, to the editor, and all the amazing people who worked at the famed newspaper brand which had been around for more than four decades, as he congratulated on their achievements and for being vanguards towards the achievement of country’s aspirations and a better world at large.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Editor, Vanguard Media Limited, Mr. Eze Anaba said the organization is committed to building a major public-private sector thought leadership platform for economic policy interrogations and cross-fertilization of economic development ideas.
According to him, the Vanguard Economic Discourse has been designed with a view to fostering best-in-class and global best practices in economic policy making and management.
He said, “Permit me to first point our attention to the purpose for which this event is instituted. For reminders, the Vanguard Media Limited runs on a tagline, ‘Towards a Better Life for the People’. This does not only guide our editorial content, it is also the philosophy behind all we do, including this discussion series.
“You all will agree with me that there is no better life for anyone without economic wellness.”
The private sector team was headed by the National Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), with the President of the Chamber, Dele Oye, as the Guest Speaker.
Oye berated the unlawful practice of fixing exchange rate by the Nigerian Customs service without notice, calling on all stakeholders to hold government accountable and reject every bad policy of government that are likely to harm businesses.
He also frowned at undue privilege being granted to foreigners especially the Chinese over Nigerians saying that “this must stop. “
Also on the panel is the President of the Nigerian Labour Congress, (NLC) Comrade Joe Ajaero.
Ajaero said the government should bear in mind while fixing living or minimum wage, the rapidity with which inflation is wiping away the purchasing power of Nigerians who are living below two dollars a day.
“ One of the agendas of the present government is poverty eradication. But instead of that, so many people have been thrown into abject poverty between May 29, 2023 and today, “ he lamented.
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