Five million jobs in one year, planned

Another five million Nigerians could be at work within a year if their government's plans for more employment fall into place, but the jobs will not come from the public sector, news organisations quoted Vice President Atiku Abubakar as saying. "The present administration is determined to create a conducive environment for the generation of new employment opportunities by propelling the private sector to become an engine of growth," Abubakar said on Monday. Abubakar was "taking stock" of the first 100 days in office of the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo, who was sworn in on 29 May, a Lagos daily, `The Guardian', reported on Tuesday. However, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) told IRIN that the issue of job creation needed to be carefully considered. The NLC's acting deputy secretary-general, John Odah, said all stakeholders - the government, unions, employers and the unemployed (represented by the Movement of the Unemployed and Destitute) - needed to meet on the issue. "We need to talk to the victims of the unemployment crisis, a number of whom are articulate men and women who hold degrees and have been roaming the streets for five years," Odah said. The NLC, he said, was consulting with its South African colleagues on how to organise a "job summit" similar to one held in that country in October 1998. The aim of such a meeting, Odah said, would be to work out a programme to tackle unemployment.