The Federal Government on Friday reiterated the need for collaboration among all tiers of government to tackle unemployment in the country.
Minister of State for Works and Supervising Minister of National Planning, Ambassador Bashir Yuguda, made the call at the 12th National Council on Development Planning meeting in Bauchi.
Yuguda stressed the need for all tiers of government to jointly initiate policies towards creating employment opportunities for Nigeria’s large population of youths.
According to him, to drive sustainable economic growth, Nigeria must focus on ways to expand job opportunities for young people.
He said addressing unemployment required multiple strategies such as substantial investment in national education system and technical and vocational training to improve business environment.
“There is, therefore, a need for cooperation among all tiers of government to achieve our desired vision. The Federal Government cannot do it alone; neither can the states and local governments. We all need to work together to achieve our common goals and aspirations.
“The experiences of countries like Australia, Malaysia and Brazil have shown that their tiers of government have complemented each other in attaining their current status,’’ he said.
Yuguda said to prevent unemployment generating severe social tension, no government in a democratic setting could afford to ignore large sections of non-working population.
“As such, we must work together to reduce the high rate of unemployment among our youths; tackle income inequality.’’
He explained that the NCDP was one of the key statutory bodies constituted to facilitate and coordinate the economic development process at the federal and sub-national levels.
According to him, members of the council include the Minister of National Planning, as Deputy Chairman; the National Planning Commission, and commissioners responsible for economic planning.
