NECA: Nigeria Lost 20,000 Jobs in 3yrs as 15 Companies Divested, Closed Shop

Dike Onwuamaeze

The Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) has said that 20,000 Nigerians joined the labour market in the past three years adding that 15 business organisations either divested from Nigeria or partially closed their operations during the period.

Director-General of NECA, Mr. Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, disclosed this in a public statement titled, “NECA Calls for Urgent Action to Arrest the Growing Unemployment Rate,” which poses negative consequences for security and household survival.

Oyerinde expressed concerned that the growing rate of unemployment in the country is being made worse by the continuous divestment of global businesses and closure of local ones.

He said: “It is worrisome to note that in the past three years, over 15 organisations with a combined value-chain staff strength of over twenty thousand (20,000) employees have either divested or partially closed operations. This has dire consequences not only for organized businesses but also for labour, government revenue and the households.”

Oyerinde averred that, “the consequences of this massive job losses across sectors will continue to create insecurity challenges, increase the occurrence of child-labour (as children will be forced to become bread-winners), adversely affect the disposable income of families, erode the purchasing power of individuals and drastically reduce economy’s output.”

He urged the government to urgently address the multi-facet challenges currently being faced by organized businesses.

He noted that, “the harsh business environment has made local businesses to be uncompetitive. Government must urgently address regulatory and legislative bottlenecks that tend to stifle businesses rather than promote them. Continuous efforts must be made to promote locally made goods through the provision of critical infrastructures; urgent stabilization of the foreign exchange market and ensuring that Ministries, Departments and Agencies are appraised not only by how much income they generate, but also by how many businesses they facilitated or promoted.”

He added that the private sector is creating eight out of every 10 jobs and “deliberate effort must be made to ensure its sustainability and competitiveness.”