News Roundup
Nigeria targets 10m jobs by 2011
May 13, 2008, 20:46
| | President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua has disclosed that the Federal Government is set to achieve a double digit Gross Domestic Products (GDP) growth rate and create 10m jobs by the end of the year 2011.
The president who spoke through Vice president Good luck Jonathan at the opening of a one-day Inter-Ministerial Retreat on Harmonisation of National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS) 2008-2011 and the Seven-Point Agenda of the Yar'Adua government held on Monday May 12, at the Banquet Hall of the State House, Abuja noted that that the targets implied that all-sectoral growth rates, particularly the non-oil sectors must be doubled during the plan period.
He stated that meeting the two targets was mandatory if Nigeria was to achieve her vision of being one of the top 20 economies by the Year 2020, noting that for this to happen it is imperative that in the next four years, the strategies to be adopted are well articulated, focused, coherent, consistent and achievable.
He maintained that the questions are how to ensure that the sectoral growth levels are doubled within the plan period? What are those critical investments that government needs to make to stimulate growth? This he noted is against the fact that Nigeria is edging towards the time frame set for the collective achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) adding that the nation has no reason not to achieve the MDGs.
While reiterating his administration’s commitment to implementing sound economic policies, good governance and anti-corruption wars, President Yar’Adua stated that what his administration needs are Action Plan for facilitating development of infrastructure such as transportation, energy, ICT, water and sanitation; action plan that will deepen the commitment in the Health and Education sectors and other social services; action plan for security, law and order; action plan for real sector growth and development; and action for providing enabling environment for local manufacturing and maintenance of telecommunication equipment and software development.
The President, who consigned failure of government programmes to excessive rituals without corresponding implementation, noted that the last four years in Nigeria have been remarkable because the nation had been having a stable-macro-economic environment and a growth rate averaging 6.3 per cent.
"However, it is obvious that the associated benefits of growth were yet to trickle down to a large segment of our people. The challenges of poverty (54.3 per cent), growing inequality estimated at 43 per cent, coupled with increasing graduate unemployment remains worrisome. We cannot over flog the issue of infrastructural deficit that continues to becloud our investment climate. These are issues we must deal with in our development plans. "Our goals remain wealth creation, employment generation, sustainable poverty reduction that is production driven. For us to achieve these, the 2008-2011 plans must create ample room for productivity enhancement and value addition that are critical for acceleration of economic growth and development." He added.
Minister for National Planning Senator Sanusi Daggash, in his submission said the outcome of the harmonisation process would form the medium-term development plan that would guide the development operations of the administration.
Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources Dr Sayyadi Abba Ruma, disclosed that agriculture contributes 40 per cent to the (GDP) against 13 per cent for oil; that it employs about two-thirds of the total labour force of the nation and provides a livelihood for the bulk of the rural population with about 72 per cent of the poor living in the rural areas.
Governor of Central Bank, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo advocated that the reforms need to be more holistic, coordinated and reinforcing across the entire financial system, while key sectors need to operate with proper reference to a central objective or global targets.
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