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The federal government has said plans were underway to boost employment opportunity through rural infrastructural development so as to reduce the bearable level of unemployment in the country.
Minister of Labour and Productivity, Mr. Emeka Wogu, who made this known in Abuja during the inauguration of the national working committee on mainstreaming of Labour-based approaches in infrastructural development said the projects would have positive impact on the economy.
“It is of note that the equipment-intensive approach to rural infrastructural development reduces employment opportunities during construction and maintenance phases of projects implementation.
“The current economic situation in the country is that we have surplus labour force, graduates and non-graduates, skilled and unskilled, young and old and insufficient employment opportunities to absorb the surplus labour.”
He added: “But I am glad to let you know that with the transformation agenda of the president, government is determined more than ever before to reduce unemployment in the country to a bearable level. We intend to achieve this through mass employment, using rural infrastructural development.”
Wogu also said that the labour intensive approach would be one of the strategies to be used to provide employment opportunities, increase income generation and improve the living standards of the rural dwellers.
He disclosed that the committee is to come up with policies that would promote Labour-based technology through enhancing the situation of labour for capital and use of local resources.
The minister also said the committee was expected to stimulate and support small scale enterprises to embrace Labour-based technology, and ensure that government procurement accommodates the use of local resources thereby generating employment.
The committee is charged with responsibility of enhancing the labour characteristic of various sectors of the Nigerian economy that is Labour-intensive friendly.
Earlier in his welcome address, the director general of NDE, Mal. Abubakar Mohammed, said the occasion marked a milestone in the continuous effort of the Directorate to exploit new areas to combating the scourge of unemployment in the country.
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