SAN FRANCISCO, November 07, (THEWILL) – The rejection on Wednesday by senators of the All Progressives Congress, APC, to debate the implementation of its campaign promise of paying N5, 000 monthly stipends to unemployed youths, has come as a shock to many Nigerians.
The promise came with high expectations; the large army of unemployed Nigerians had banked heavily on the campaign promise. Meant to cushion the effects of economic hardship on the unemployed, the package has been on the front burner among numerous APC campaign promises expected to be fulfilled by President Muhammadu Buhari.
But sadly, the APC senators unanimously rejected the motion, thus opening a new vista in the plight of unemployed Nigerians. The plan to pay a monthly stipend to the unemployed is a welcome development.
We however applaud the ruling party for its reassuring statement through its spokesman, Mr. Lai Mohammed, after the senate’s vote that it would not renege on its campaign promise to pay the stipend. The party must get its senators, who are in the majority at the senate, to make it a reality.
We support the proposal to pay all unemployed Nigerians a stipend. Our conviction is that it will not only be an avenue to alleviate the plight of the vulnerable, but it will also go a long way in checking the social vices in the nation, many of which are traceable to unemployed youths.
The unanimous rejection of the proposal by APC senators does not therefore seem to reflect the wishes and aspiration of Nigerians. The debate over its implementation had started when Philip Aduda, representing PDP, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), raised a prayer urging government to fulfill the campaign promise. This was prelude to a motion earlier sponsored by Bassey Akpan, PDP Cross River-East, calling for “urgent need to curb the soaring rate of unemployment in Nigeria.”
It is worrisome that APC members, under whose platform the promise was made, could be so vehemently opposed to a motion meant to fast-track the delivery of its change mantra. Senate President Bukola Saraki had cautioned members to “stay above party line on this issue that is so important,” iterating that the nation has “seen growth in the last years, but this has not translated to employment especially as government alone cannot do it.”
Our position is that the lawmakers should not take a stand that is clearly anti-people. Analyst and lawyer Jerome Uloko, had in condemning the senators’ position stressed that, “it is unfortunate that the APC is backing out of its campaign promise barely six months after assuming office.” We also share in the concern of the opposition PDP that the senators’ decision is not in consonance with public expectations.
PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, had in a statement on Thursday berated the action which he said portrays APC as “hypocrites, who never had the intentions of honouring any of their campaign promises.”
According to him, “Indeed, the unanimity displayed by the APC Senators, in rejecting the promised N5, 000 monthly welfare packages, further stresses the duplicitous spirit of the APC and its reprehensible insensitivity to the feelings and aspirations of Nigerians.”
We submit that the idea of a monthly stipend to the unemployed is long over-due in Nigeria. In developed climes like the United States of America, Canada and the European Union, there is social security provision for the unemployed. However, we share in the fears expressed by critics that the proposal may not be sustainable, given the state of our data.
We also agree with the opinion of a communication expert Rotimi Adebayo, who argued that it would be difficult to implement the programme because, “there was no reliable statistics” of the unemployed. As he puts it, “How do you determine who is employed and who is not.”
Of concern to us is that the senators, in rejecting the plan, did not cite unreliable data as reason for its rejection; neither did they advance any superior position; hence there is need for a re-appraisal of the package.
While we support that the plan should not be sacrificed on the alter of politics, we share in the public views that we should tidy all loose ends, with a view to making the package beneficial to all. Recall that public affairs analyst, Comrade Lambert Ayobanmi, had advised that the issue be “delayed to enable the country prepare accurate data, so that it doesn’t go the way of previous poverty alleviation programmes.”
We believe firmly that unless the issue of accurate data is addressed, the programme may end up like past white elephant projects which ran counter to set objectives. This is particularly instructive against the backdrop of views expressed by Babajide Omoworare, representing Osun-East senatorial district, who had earlier called for a probe into operations of Subsidy Re-investment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P), one of such failed projects, which he said, constituted a drain-pipe on the economy under the last administration.
We admit that the programme comes with a lot of challenges. Among the challenges are how to decide what category of the unemployed would be captured. Also, what age bracket would form the cut-off point and how would the nation ascertain the true age of those who may present themselves as unemployed? For instance, if a hitherto employed person loses his/her job, how does the system consider a re-absorption?
Going by the statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics, the rate of unemployment in Nigeria has been staggering in the last few years. According to the NBS, the rate peaked at 7.5% in the first quarter of 2015, while it stood at 6.4% in the fourth quarter of 2014.These statistics have averaged between 11.59% from 2006 till date.
The figures stood at 23.90% in the fourth quarter of 2011 and reached a record low of 5.30% in the fourth quarter of 2006.
Statistics also show that the rate of unemployment within the economically active population of 15 to 64, in the last quarter of 2015, stands at 103.8 million, an increase from 102.8 million in the last quarter of 2015.
If these statistics are anything to go by, there is no doubt that the time for the implementation of social security in Nigeria is now. We therefore submit that if the rising crime waves, such as kidnapping, rape, terrorism, armed robbery etc., must be checked there is an urgent need for the senate to revisit the matter.
We share in the suggestions that the challenge posed by the lack of accurate data and other grey areas are germane to a smooth and sustainable implementation.
In fast-tracking this arrangement, there should be an annual budgetary provision to address these challenges. As has been widely suggested, the faster the issue is revisited, the better for the growing army of unemployed Nigerians and the nation’s stability.
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