News: FG Considers Capacity to Create Jobs as Basis for Contract Award

The Federal Government in a bid to stimulate its youth empowerment programmes is considering adopting capacity to create jobs as one of the criteria for offering government contracts and assistance.

The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udo Udoma, gave the indication on Thursday in Abuja at a forum with members of the 25th Regular Course on Policy, Strategy and Leadership of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, on Thursday, in Abuja.

He said the Federal Government views the unemployment situation in the country with great concern and has made job creation one of the major objectives of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan.

The minister said the plan aims to create jobs by developing labour-intensive sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, housing and construction and is also launching a number of public works programmes as well as encouraging private-sector participation in the economy.

Government, he said, is developing infrastructure in sectors with the capacity to create demand for labour and will sustain the N-Power programmes as well as continue to support small scale enterprises to maximize their potential for job creation.

According to him, there are other policies in place to encourage job creation including apprenticeship programme, supporting and patronizing Made in Nigeria Initiative to encourage local manufacturing.

To further give impetus to the drive, he said government will give necessary support to institutions that focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics as a veritable foundation for building a knowledge-based economy.

He pointed out that the bulk of the initiatives under job creation will prioritize youth as beneficiaries and this is being pursued through direct job creation by the Federal Government and those created in the informal and formal sectors by the private sector, and skill-building programmes.

Senator Udoma emphasized that government will no longer give incentives to private investors on the basis of intentions but on the basis of results; and the driving principles will among others be how many jobs will be created, how much value will be added to the economy, the quality of goods produced and how much foreign exchange they can generate.

He said, “Your support and your input is very important for the success of this plan. The input of every Nigerian is important, we want this plan to be owned and internalised by every single Nigerian.

“It is only when we operate it collectively, when we all accept it well within its confines, when we are propelled by the desire to make this plan work that it will work.

“We believe that when we work together, we will succeed.As a government, we will show the way. As a government we will give the leadership but the success depends on all of us working collectively.”

Source: Punch