TEN WAYS TO CREATE EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES IN NIGERIA: Part one
By
Kayode Fakinlede Ph. D
There are some time tested and successful ways of creating employment. These methods do not drain the purse of the government. As a matter of fact, they will enhance the financial condition of government. These methods can be immediately put to practice and their results will be immediate.
1. MAKE ELECTRICITY AVAILABLE ALWAYS
The most important way to enhance employment opportunities in our nation is to address the electricity issue, no matter what it will cost us as a nation. This does not mean that the federal government will have to invest billions into generating power. It only means that ways have to be found for us to have electricity. This is a sine qua none for boosting the employment outlook.
2. ENFORCE THE LAW
Next on the heels of electricity generation is law enforcement. Let us make it clear that an overwhelming majority of the people of any nation can be law abiding only to the level of which the law is enforced. Luckily, we Nigerians are not an exception in the area of obeying the law. However if the law is not enforced, the people will have no reason to obey it. Law enforcement is what makes possible an organized society. And without good organization within a community, or nation, wealth creation is almost impossible. Lawlessness constitutes a bane to economic aggrandizement and therefore employment.
3. MAKE GOOD, WEALTH- GENERATING LAWS
A third method to boost employment opportunities is the making of good, wealth-generating laws by the people in government, particularly at the state and local levels. It would seem as if this item and the previous one are the same but they are not. It takes a committed legislator to come up with ideas that would make the economy work. The government may come up with a piece of legislation that says all vehicles must have working head lights. That is a good idea that will definitely enhance the sale of headlights and employ the service of mechanics – if the law is enforced. If that law is not enforced, most people will just ignore it and go about their business. As another example, a government came up with the idea that free education is good. If it had not made it compulsory and was ready to enforce that law, many people would have ignored it, preferring to employ their wards for immediate gain. I can say that one of the major differences between the developed nations and others is the readiness of government to make wealth-generating laws and enforce them.
4. REFRAIN FROM DIRECT WEALTH CREATION
A fourth way that wealth can be created and employment opportunities enhanced, is for government to not dabble into wealth creation directly. This means that the government must not attempt to run airlines, petrol stations, automobile assembly plants, cement factories, and all those things that government operatives are often too eager to dabble in. It is proved over and over again that government's attempts at these things often result in failure and massive corruption. This is not peculiar to Nigeria. It is the very simple fact that governments cannot run businesses. They are supposed to see to the welfare of those that do.
5. FULFILL CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS
The government must be ready to fulfill its contractual obligations to the people. It must be held sacrosanct that salaries must be paid as at when due. The governments, whether local, state or federal, must not employ people and not pay them at the end of the month or as agreed upon. The government, by logical extension, must make it mandatory for all employers of labor to pay their employees as at when due. The federal governments however will have no moral authority to enforce the law if it is guilty of it. In an economy like ours, payment of salaries is the greatest economic engine that exists. Any state governor that does not pay the employees at the end of each month should be prosecuted for economic sabotage for grinding the economy of the state to a halt.
6. TRAIN THE PEOPLE
The government must be ready to partner with accredited institutions for the training of people, particularly the youth. These types of institutions need not necessarily be universities or tertiary ones. These will be institutions that will be accredited by governments to train people in skills acquisition. These skills will include carpentry, tailoring, bricklaying, hair dressing, computer programming, internet, technology, environmental upkeep, health management skill, and hundreds of other skills that will enhance the abilities of individuals to become self employed.
7. SPEND MORE ON THE PEOPLE DIRECTLY AND LESS ON PROJECTS
The government must be ready to offer small interest-free loans for targeted projects. How does the government ensure that loans will be paid back? A loan will be given with the assurance that on full repayment, over a period of say, six months, a borrower will automatically be entitled to another loan that is perhaps twice as much as the one paid back. This works most of the time and loan recovery can be as high as 90%. Loans must be targeted for government mandated projects like house repairs, home improvement, vehicle repairs, skills acquisition, tools acquisition after skills acquisition, environmental development, small-scale agricultural loans (building fisheries, piggeries, chickens, etc.), trainings, running welfare homes for the disabled, etc. The loan may be given in form of a certificate and the borrower must not be able to spend it for the purpose other than which it is intended. Civil servants can use their salaries as collateral. These kinds of arrangements give a probability of more than 50% in actualization of intended projects. Any Nigerian who qualifies for these loans must have access to them. It must be a right.
8. INFORM THE PEOPLE
Our government is too opaque. It is not enough to tell the people that the information of the activities of government is available for access. The government must make it its duty to inform the people in as many areas of its activities as possible. The government must inform the people about its income from all sources, and its expenditure. Available information about a government that is truly committed to the welfare of the people cannot afford to hide information and the truth from them. The government always needs the input of the people to be successful. Even when government is not capable of meeting the aspirations of the people, it should let them know. For example, most graduates from our universities and tertiary institutions are of the opinion that it is government who must employ them. The government must make it known that it is not capable to employ people beyond the number it needs to carry out its own duties.
9. PEOPLE AS WATCHDOGS OF GOVERNMENT ACTIVITIES
The ways enumerated above border on the responsibilities of governments to the people. The people have one major responsibility to make government work. This is ensuring that government actually fulfills its responsibilities to them. If they are unwilling to monitor the behavior of people in government and dealing with them appropriately, preferring to worship them even when they are abusing their positions, or unprepared to speak out against bad governance, then the economy cannot be developed. Wealth cannot be created. Employment opportunities cannot be enhanced. For example, if a local or state governor does not pay salaries to any part of the government as at when due, ALL parts of government must stop working IMMEDIATELY till salaries are paid and the governor prosecuted for sabotage.
10. PEOPLE MUST CREATE WEALTH AND ENHANCE EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Once the government is ready to fulfill its obligation to the people, and the people are prepared to carry out their own responsibilities, Nigerians are now ready to create wealth and employ other Nigerians in the process.
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