…Demands urgent action
By Bimbola Oyesola, [email protected]
Against the backdrop of businesses relocating out of Nigeria due to stifling business environment, the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), at the weekend, raised the alarm over the attendant growing unemployment, demanding urgent action from the government.
According to NECA, the growing rate of unemployment in the country comes with “attendant negative consequences for security and household survival.”
Director-general of NECA, Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, speaking in Lagos, expressed concerns that the growing rate of unemployment in the country was made worse by the continuous divestment of global businesses and closure of local ones.
“It is worrisome to note that in the last three (3) years, over fifteen (15) organizations with a combined value-chain staff strength of over twenty thousand (20,000) employees have either divested or partially closed operations.
“This has dire consequences not only for organized businesses but also for labour, government revenue and the households,” he said.
Further expressing the Association’s deep concerns, Oyerinde lamented that the consequences of the massive job losses across sectors will continue to create insecurity challenges, increase the occurrence of child-labour (as children will be forced to become bread-winners), adversely affect the disposable income of families, erode the purchasing power of individuals and drastically reduce economy’s output.
Proffering solutions to the malaise, the NECA’s Director-General urged the government to urgently address the multi-facet challenges currently being faced by organized businesses.
He noted that the harsh business environment has made local businesses to be uncompetitive, emphasizing that “government must urgently address regulatory and legislative bottlenecks that tend to stifle businesses rather than promote them.
Oyerinde advocated for continuous efforts to promote locally made goods through the provision of critical infrastructures; urgent stabilization of the foreign exchange market and ensuring that Ministries, Departments and Agencies are appraised not only by how much income they generate, but also by how many businesses they facilitated or promoted.
“The private sector creates eight out of every ten jobs and deliberate effort must be made to ensure its sustainability and competitiveness,” he stressed.