Politics
By Anthony Isibor
PETER Obi, Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, has condemned the attack and killing of some international humanitarian workers in Anambra state on Wednesday, May 17.
The former governor of Anambra state, who made this know through his Twitter handle @PeterObi noted that “the rising crime rate in our community and country is not unconnected with the frightening rising poverty level and unemployment of youths in the land which is a consequence of a prolonged leadership failure over the years.”
Obi also expressed his heartfelt sympathy to the families of the deceased, the United States Embassy and other charitable International agencies involved, noting that nothing can be more deplorable than that somebody has to die while rendering a charity job for a people and a nation in need.
Part of his Tweet read:
“I just got the most reprehensible news of the attack and killing of some international humanitarian workers in Anambra state, which happened on Tuesday. This despicable act is highly condemnable.
“When youths in their productive ages remain idle for a prolonged time the devil finds in them veritable tools to build workshops in. Our redemption remains a quick turnaround from consumption to production.
“I urge the appropriate security agencies to leave no stone unturned in ensuring that the perpetrators of these wicked and abominable acts are fished out and made to face the wrath of the law.”
Realnews recalls that Chris Ngige, the Minister of Labour and Employment, earlier in March had also affirmed that unemployment in Nigeria has more than quadrupled since 2015.
The Minister who made the statement while speaking at the 68th session of the Inter-ministerial briefing organized by the Presidential Communications Team at the presidential villa, Abuja, harped on the need for the government to make efforts to stem the negative impact on the economy and the country’s active population.
Ngige explained that the unemployment rate in Nigeria rose to 9.9% in 2015 as the current administration came on board.
Also, the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, NESG had projected the unemployment rate in the country to rise to 37 percent in 2023 which is about 4% higher than the National Bureau of Statistics data of 33.3 percent as of 2020.
In its latest report 2023 Macroeconomic Outlook report titled ‘Nigeria in Transition: Recipes for Shared Prosperity’, the private policy advocacy group said that the projected rate and the poverty headcount will increase to 45 percent.
It attributed this to weak performance in the job-elastic sectors, low labour absorption of sectors that will drive growth, and population growth estimated at 3.2 percent that will lead to a decline in real per capita income.
If Obi’s postulations are correct and nothing is done about it, then the insecurity in the country is only bound to worsen with the increase in poverty and unemployment.
A.
Tags: Peter Obi
