THE TRAGEDY OF GROSS UNEMPLOYMENT The Conference of Nigerian Political Parties {CNPP} joins Nigerians to mourn the Tragedy of Gross Unemployment; which claimed scores of lives of innocent youths that went out in search of Nigeria Immigration Service vacant placement. CNPP condoles the families of the victims, prays to God for the repose of their souls and groans that these ambitious youths and pregnant mothers of our ancestry, died hungry, poor and in a state of agony in the midst of plenty. It is our candid view that the Tragedy of Unemployment is the outcome of Federal Government of Nigeria’s nebulous and inchoate economic policy; which regrettably posits that government has no business in business and the monumental corruption, which governs the reproachable economic policy. Otherwise, if the Peoples Democratic Party {PDP} led federal government had in the past 15 years invested our unprecedented Oil and Gas revenue to critical infrastructures like refineries, modern railways, power supply; there is no way over 4,00,000 youths will pay N1, 000 to chase less than 3,000 jobs in a single department of the state across the country. CNPP still maintains that heavy investment in critical infrastructure is the only solution to durable employment; how long do we wait for the Chinese, Dangote or Julius Berger? For the avoidance of doubt the Nigerian economy is informal and therefore has no infrastructural form; it is primitive and non- capitalist, for a capitalist state is predicated on an industrialized system. The fact is that the over dependence on the private sector is a farce; for 98% of the captains of industry in Nigeria have no factory, even pure water factory; they are petrol-dollar predators. Therefore cannot provide employment. This is the paradox of the much-touted Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s 7% annual growth for the 1%, in the mix of gross unemployment for the 99%, which led to this avoidable tragedy. This is why those that got the 1.6 million quasi- jobs she claimed was created last year were among the 400,000 chasing Immigration job? CNPP opines that it is not too late in the day for the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and the Economic team to come to the reality that our economy is a primitive one, and allow President Goodluck Jonathan to build refineries to stem the unbridled $10.8 billion PMS and Kerosene subsidy scam, for one refinery employs over 80,000 persons directly and indirectly. Alternatively the 2015 presidential election offers Nigerians golden opportunity for regime change. In sum, while we mourn our patriots, it is high time before ethnic merchants and religious jingoists mount the stage at the national conference, to note that our problem in the midst of plenty is man made - common poverty, common hunger and common gross unemployment not ethnicity nor religion. This is the lesson of the Tragedy of Gross Unemployment. Mr Osita Okechukwu National Publicity Secretary CNPP
Posted on: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 20:18:45 +0000
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