In
sincerity, I guess, our not too young president, MuhammaduBuhari, promised the
expectant teaming unemployed Nigerians that he would pay them a stipend of
N5,000 when elected as the president. That was during his campaign. So it was
one of his, or should I say APC’s campaign promises. There is nothing more
honourable than fulfilling campaign promises, and this is where African
leaders, mostly, default indiscriminately. In fact, the unabating bad
leaderships in Africa begin here. So it will be a mind blowing paradigm shift
if President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) will attempt to fulfill his campaign
promises. We have waited so long for this. But there has been consistent pop-up
questions in my mind. Should every promise made be kept? Even the ones made in
frenzy? No matter the consequences?
First,
let me state that I have been a strong advocate of support systems for the
unemployed which the number seems to be in the increase on daily basis. But the
support system must not be destructive. The mode just has to be right if we
must succeed as a people. So the N5,000 payment is a support system, but how
right is it? No doubt, this singular promise or should I say move, is commendable.
At least PMB and the ruling party remember that the unemployed Nigerians and
the poor youths are really suffering, so need money for their up-keeps. This
could be a way of bringing them into “National Cake Sharing Formula”. Just as
last administration thought smartly. They considered that if they should carry
all the ‘Subsidy money’ alone to fatten their personal Swiz and other foreign
accounts, the outcry would be much higher. So they created Sure-P. Through it
they gave out a little to few “lucky” job seekers while they supposedly shared
the main chunk of the deal among themselves. So for this N5000 sharing idea
initiated by Mr. President and supported by Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osibanjo
who recently said there was no going back on the idea, I hail thee.
But,
why N5000? What parameter was used to arrive at that amount? No, let me put it
this why,what parameter was used to determine that a graduate who is to
establish him/herself needs N5000 every month? Or was it an assumption that a
full grown man with responsibilities needs N5000 for a whole month? I can’t
really fix this. I almost got lost in my thought when I first heard of this
“juicy promise”. The economy of the country has gone so bad that if you go to
buy things in the market with N5000, you may not be able to get food stuff that
can sustain a family of four (4) for the whole day. The inflation rate keeps
negotiating its way to the top almost on daily basis. This is aided by the
continuous scarcity of fuel and the consequent hike in price.
We
are talking about paying N5000 to the unemployed and poor youths at a time when
corruption is still ravaging the country. Corruption is still permeating all
the government systems unabated though the present PMB administration is
putting up a strong fight against it. Even the ordinary Nigerian who is to be
the recipient is corrupt or has a tendency of being corrupt. This will simply
be another avenue to further enrich the pockets of these corrupt politicians
and civil servants who would be in charge
of the programme. Just like what we got in Sure-P. The greedy rich man
pushing for the programme to start off immediately has already strategized and
calculated how much would be going into his personal coffer. We are about
introducing a programme where that rich man’s son who is studying abroad would
be enlisted among the “poor youths” to receive the stipend.
Another
thing that even got me more perturbed is how to determine who is not employed
in Nigeria. What database does the government intend using to determine who is employed
and who is not? If the government intends drawing the list from the statistics
of those who did or do apply for jobs, then, I will draw your attention to what
happened in the last Nigerian Immigration Service employment saga. It was a
situation where those working in banks and state governments’ establishments
applied too. In fact, over 50 percent of those applicants were workers who
merely wanted to change jobs. So do we also say they are unemployed? Also, we
should not be forgetting that someone who is unemployed today can get a job
that will pay him well tomorrow. So how would the government know that such a
person has left the “Unemployed Nigerians Club”? The unfortunate thing is that
even if the beneficiary who gets a job decides to stop collecting the N5000
(which is rare, I mean, almost impossible in the Nigerian context), the persons
in charge of the payment would immediately divert the money into their own
accounts. We should not also forget that someone who is employed today can be
unemployed tomorrow. I can’t still fix this in my head how the government plans
doing it.
My
Warri brothers will say “we no go use shame chop witch”. It is true that the
payment has been promised under the campaigns pressure and the African
political idea of “do anything, say anything to win the election”, we should
not further destroy the country because of it. I thought of what this adventure
could look like. If we go by the statistics of 2014, Dr. OkonjoIweala reported
that about 1.8 million graduates enter the labour market per year, and no fewer
than 5.3 million youths are jobless. That was only the youths. In 2014 too, the
National Bureau of Statistics put the population of Nigerians in poverty at 112
million representing 67 percent of 167 million population. I refuse to be
dragged into the temptation of doing the calculation here. so I leave it to
you. You can make the calculation yourself using any formula of your choice.
But please do not forget that since 2014, many organizations have retrenched
thousands of their staff, if not millions, and some millions have also
graduated.
Is
it better to go give that unemployed person one fingerling or to equip him with
all the materials and knowledge he needs, take him to the river and give him
enabling environment to catch as many fish of different sizes as possible?
Nigeria needs to develop its economy now. And this cannot be achieved by
sharing N5000 to the unemployed and the poor. Rather, we should concentrate on
human capital development now. That was what China simply did. They developed
their individual citizens into independent technocrats and gave them enabling
platforms to explore.
In
this proposed payment, what is the guarantee that FG would consistently pay the
money for at least one year? Imagine where over 112 million people hit the road
in protest for ‘non-payment of unemployed Nigerians and poor youths allowance’.
Of course it would get to that because I do not see the FG being so consistent
with the payment without defaulting. The Niger-Delta Amnesty beneficiaries were
in few thousands yet the government could not pay them consistently as agreed.
We saw these people blocked the roads in protest of non-payment severally with
threats of unleashing fire and brimstone on the country. It will not be unusual
if by the time this programme kicks off, the government indiscrimately defaults
in payment. Then, it is better imagined than experienced if all unemployed
Nigerians and poor youths decide to riot. It is also a concern that this is coming
up at a time when civil servants are owed salaries. In some states, the civil
servants are owed as much as seven months. Nigeria is facing a harsh economic
situation and we should not collapse the system because someone had made
political statement. The Federal Government should not “use shame chop witch”. A
time when the FG has downsized the number of the ministries from 32 to 25 due
to lack of fund to run them.And here in
Imo State, the government has done same by reducing 22 ministries to 13. There
is also the tendency of laziness among some youths who would depend on the
N5000 and refuse to do anything.
It
is not arguable that most people are unemployed as a result of corruption.
Sometimes I tend to believe that the civil service seems to be more corrupt
than the “political sector”. So let's hit corruption if we want to confront
unemployment. Another invaluable adventure would be to build Nigerians into
unwavering entrepreneurs, genuinely give us skills and how to transform them
into wealth. Give us quality education devoid of corruption, fair play ground.
Let us have electricity which the epileptic status has taken many people off
business and increased cost of doing business in the country. Make favourable
policies and improve our economy; diversify it. Provide adequate security so
that foreign investors can come in and stay comfortably. Let us have good roads
for adequate transportation system. Let Nigerians have what it takes to catch
the fish themselves, don’t give us fingerlings, we are industrious enough to
make wealth. Or, is the N5000 stipend what the unemployed Nigerians and poor
youths truly need to succeed?
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