Osinbajo Harps On Supporting Private Sector To Create Jobs For Nigerians

Posted by African Examiner Featured, Latest Headlines, News Across Nigeria Saturday, July 10th, 2021

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – Nigeria’s Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo has said that the Federal Government will support the private sector in creating more job opportunities as part of its plan to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in the next ten years.

Prof. Osinbajo disclosed this in Abuja on Friday at the inaugural meeting of the National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy (NPRGS) Steering Committee which was held at the Presidential Villa.

He said efforts aimed at realizing the NPRGS must be directed at how to facilitate private sector creation of job, adding that there is no way the Federal Government or the State Government can create the number of jobs that is needed in this regard.

“We need to take a few broad looks at the features of what constitutes our present predicaments in terms of job losses and unemployment”, he said.

He reassured that efforts will be made to focus attention on creating opportunities for Nigerians to earn decent livelihoods in addition to equipping them with the necessary vocational skills.

He added that government would adopt a different and more effective approach in actualizing the objective of eradicating poverty in the country for the sake of delivering results.

The VP further explained that how the Buhari administration plans to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in ten years will not be based on a business as usual approach, but a very simple, common sense strategy that will deliver the results.

“In order not to make this merely, another of those high-sounding committees that eventually achieve nothing, we have to be very intentional about our objectives and how to achieve them.

“I really want us to approach this as much as possible, commonsensically, so that we are able to resolve all the issues and focus on the real progress.

“I want us to look beyond all of what we are going to be doing, there is going to be a considerable amount of paper work, but a lot of common sense is what grows economies. It’s what other countries have done, not really reinventing the wheel. So, I want us to focus on those commonsensical things, so that we can actually move forward”, he added.

Prof. Osinbajo, who chairs the NPRGS Steering Committee, also observed that countries that have managed to get out of poverty have created a lot of jobs through industries, adding that they have developed intentional strategies.

Citing the example of Bangladesh where a poverty reduction strategy was also implemented, he noted how the country’s manufacturing sector was key.

“Bangladesh actually exports more garment than we export oil. We must look at what others have done, the smart things that other people have done, and adopt”, he stressed,

He equally harped on the need to explore and harness the huge potential of agriculture in the country. “We really have to think smartly about how we are funding agriculture”, he further stated.

He said it is imperative to take a deep dive because, according to him, governments have made several efforts at poverty alleviation but generally speaking, they have not yielded the sort of results they should yield.

“I think it’s because there is a lot of focus on documentation and paper work and very little commonsense approaches”, he added

Prof. Osinbajo also pointed out that the NPRGS is meant to be a national strategy and not just a federal effort aimed at taking 100 million people, nationally, out of poverty within a target time-frame of 10 years.

“I just want to emphasize that it is a national strategy as opposed to a federal strategy which is why the steering committee is made up of federal as well as state officials”, he stressed.