Create More Job Opportunities, NLC President Tells FG

The President, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Mr Abdulwahed Omar, on Thursday urged the Federal Government to create more job opportunities in the country.

The NLC president, who was speaking with journalists in Abuja, noted that there was no country in the world with with zero level of unemployment.

According to him, “There are certain policies of government that are really detrimental to employment creation; we can pretend about it.

“For example, we have literally transferred all our textile (production) from Nigeria to China and that means you are creating jobs there and we are denying our people (of jobs) here.

“We have to facilitate the establishment and sustenance of industries then unemployment will be history.

“Nigeria is blessed in terms of agriculture, for example; but we import all sorts of rice from every other country and you still think agriculture will employ the needed people that ought to be employed. There are so many other avenues.

“What government needs to do is to settle down through its policies and actions to create the environment that will allow industries to emerge, then unemployment will be history”.

Omar lamented what he called “arbitrary hike in electricity tariff rate”, saying it would impact negatively on industrial development thereby making nonsense of the ongoing power reform in the country.

Omar said: “If you have very high expenditure on power, even when you establish industry you are likely to go back to square one.

“Your product will be expensive than those imported, therefore your products will be dumped and there will be no employment because it is a vicious cycle”.