SenatorTinubu ListsWay Out of Nigeria’s Unemployment

Senator Oluremi Tinubu representing Lagos Central Senatorial District has identified innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship as the way out of the country’s unemployment problems. She said it was unrealistic to expect the government to provide jobs for every single job seeker, a realization that engendered the need for private and small businesses who can also go on to be employers of labour.

The Senator spoke on Friday at the 21st Townhall Meeting she organized in her constituency. It was held the Event Place, Lekki-Epe Expressway, Lagos. Present at the meeting were party leaders and prominent politicians, which included Deputy Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Wasiu Esinlokun, former Minister of State for Defence, Mr. Ademola Seriki, Prince Tajudeen Olusi and Alhaji Mutiu Aare.

She lamented that the report of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) indicated that unemployment rose from 13.3% in the second (2nd) quarter to 13.9% in the third (3rd) quarter of 2016.

This situation, she said, had been further aggravated by constant increase in the number of graduates being churned out by universities in the country each year.

As a way out of this, the Senator called on youths to prioritise self-development and learn skills that can take them from poverty and prepare them for the workforce.

The theme for the meeting is “Encouraging Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Creativity,” which she said resonated with “our Youth Empowerment and Skills Acquisition Scheme (YESAS), Petty Traders Empowerment Scheme (PETECS), and the Widows Empowerment Scheme (WEES) which have over the last six (6) years been vehicles for empowerment, delivering opportunities and encouraging our youth and constituents”.

Senator Tinubu briefed her constituents on her activities in the Senate. She listed the bills she sponsored in the Senate to include Lagos State Special Economic Assistance Bill (SB 122), which failed to go beyond Second Reading, Prisons Act Amendment Bill (SB 191) and Labour Act Amendment Bill (SB 229), both of which are at present at before appropriate committees.

The Senator also sponsored a motion on “The urgent need for the Federal Government to redeem Local Contractors’ Debts,” aimed at the redemption of debts owed to businesses and contractors in the country to ensure flow of money, maintain the integrity of institutions and move the economy out of recession.