2012 budget fails to address unemployment, says varsity teacher

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A lecturer in the Department of Economics at The Bells University, Otta, Oluwatosin Oyetayo, has expressed dismay at the failure of the Federal Government to make adequate provision for youth employment in the 2012 budget. She spoke with LEKE SALAUDEEN

How would you assess the performance of our economy in terms of job creation?

Our economy has not been viable in terms of creating job opportunities. Our production has reduced to almost level zero because of inadequate power supply. Companies are moving out of Nigeria and relocating to countries with steady power supply. The implication of this is job loss and Nigeria turning into a dumping ground of finished products from foreign countries. The economic implication is that we cannot manage our balance of payment. The social implication is that the unemployed youths are engaged in criminal activities. Given the kind of intelligence through which the Boko Haram boys and the Niger Delta militants unleashed terror on the society, you can imagine how they could have used their intelligence positively if the economy was managed well.

Even most technicians and artisans have abandoned their trade for commercial motorcycle (Okada) riding because of the erratic power supply which has reduced their income.

In the 2012 budget, President Jonathan promised to create 100,000 jobs. Do you think this provision is adequate?

It pains me that the President has underestimated what is on ground. Is he aware of the total number of unemployed youths in the country? It has taken us back to the fact that people at the helm of affairs don’t really understand what the problem is? It is sad that the government could still be talking of 100,000 jobs at this point in time when the jobless youths in Bayelsa State alone is over 100,000.

Even if it is 100,000 all we are interested in is what kind of jobs will be offered? Will the new employment be in the formal sector or through entrepreneurship? It should be gainful employment, nothing less.

Over 800 manufacturing companies closed in Nigeria within a year. What does it portend for our economy?

Unless the government addresses the issues of infrastructural decay and policy inconsistencies, we shall continue to experience this kind of problem. The world over, small scale enterprises build the economy. In America, you find the Apples, the Intels, the McDonalds and Microsoft, they all started as one man business and somehow became big organisations. In Nigeria, we have lost small scale industries that are supposed to serve as the backbone of our economy. Business enterprises with lofty ideas hardly survive in this country because of unconducive environment in which they operate.  They have to source their own energy supply by spending fortunes on diesel to power their machines and struggle to pay staff salaries. We encourage small scale industries to grow in other countries at the expense of our economy and the growing unemployment at home.