The Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, says the Federal Government has created 1.6 million jobs in the past 12 months.

Of this number, 432,021 jobs were created during the first quarter of the year.

This, she added, represented about 11.69 per cent increase over the number of jobs created during the fourth quarter of 2012.

Okonjo-Iweala made the disclosure during her presentation at an interactive session with the private sector, a copy of which was obtained by our correspondent.

She stated, “We have created 1.6 million jobs in the past 12 months. 431,021 jobs were created in the first quarter of 2013, showing an upward trend in job creation and an increase of 11.69 per cent from the fourth quarter of 2012.”

The minister said a key government programme focused on direct job creation was the Community Service Scheme, which aims to engage 320,000 youths in labour intensive work such as construction and rehabilitation of social and economic infrastructure.

According to her, about 120,000 people have been employed so far under the scheme, which is being anchored by the Subsidy Re-Investment Programme.

She also listed the Graduate Internship Scheme, which aims to attach 50,000 graduates to competent firms to enhance skills development towards employability. She noted that 4,000 graduates had emerged so far under the scheme.

According to Okonjo-Iweala, who spoke on the “Economy’s macroeconomic performance for 2013 and the outlook for 2014,” the Gross Domestic Product growth is expected at 6.75 per cent at the end of 2013, up from 6.61 per cent in 2012.

She recalled that the GDP growth in the first three quarters of 2013 stood at 6.56 per cent, 6.18 per cent and 6.81 per cent respectively.

The minister noted that economic growth during the year had continued to be driven by the non-oil sector.

However, she lamented that the rate of economic growth as well as the quality of growth had been very slow, underscoring the need for improvement.

“Nigeria needs to grow faster in the job-creating sectors at between nine to10 per cent per annum to create the number of jobs needed to substantially reduce poverty,” she said, adding, “GDP rebasing, which is currently in progress, could increase GDP substantially but its impact on growth rates is not yet certain.”

She further noted, “Economic growth needs to be more inclusive as inequality is high and rising in Nigeria; this needs to be reversed.”

In order to achieve this, the minister said the Federal Government would in 2014 make efforts to ‘remove structural bottlenecks’ in sectors as power, ports, rail, roads, communication technology (broadband) and aviation.

Also, there will be an improvement in the business climate and efforts will be made to reduce bureaucracy and fight corruption.

She gave the assurance that the government would in 2014 enact supportive polices for sectoral growth in agriculture, housing, manufacturing, creative industries, solid minerals, oil and gas and petrochemicals, among others.

“We will also build social safety nets for vulnerable women, children, and the disabled to address regional disparities,” she added.

Ebariba somboribobo! For where be that! Thunder faya.... make I no strike now.

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See This One Doing A Statistical Harakri >: Foolish Government, keep on branding, dropping and mopping figures while the governed keep dying of hunger and frustrations caused by your ineptness and sheer wickedness to the Nigerian Masses. My prayer is that anybody who is/has contributing/contributed to woes we are going through as Nation WILL NEVER ESCAPE THE WRATH OF THE OMNIPOTENT HERE ON EARTH

Madam big head, flat head, fat fat, round azz, make I tell u something wey u know. For the zone where I dey, people dey suffer everyday. If I see people suffering atimes I dey feel like to just start dey cry. Come see as young, fine, sweet boys dey carry kponkpon! Idiott, no be dem your children dey sell gala and la casera for lagos traffics...nowadays even security jobs na hot cakes and you dey there dey talk nonsense. Stoopid woman why u dey make me dey abuse u like dis na.. I supose dey respect you but you don fall our hands dem. Na for inside paper you create d jobs dem put? Madam abeg respect ya sef na, no come dey lie for us abeg e dey pain us well-well......I dey miss black face oh....na hard life wey we dey live for naija!

What difference does it make when the jobs are for those with long legs? Sons and daughters of thieves/enemies of the country.

*Faints*

dont mind her ooo she meant to say in 12 months additional 1.6million nigerians have added to Labour market. amadiyoha fire her mouth for slip of tongue

Blawd of gwad! This people can lie o! How she take put her face dey lie dis kind lie so?

kokoA: Blawd of gwad! This people can lie o! How she take put her face dey lie dis kind lie so?

the probability of you being amongst the 1.6m is slim given our population size..

Need names of dis pple, contact of d 1.6milli pple so I can confirm from dem.
Dis woman stinks of lies big tym, maybe she dey feel naija pple still dey wear pampers

Until nigeria goes half Socialist and half capitalist, there wont be enough jobs 4 D ppl. All D capitalist propaganda country knw D truth, they are all in huge debt, high tax(becus d state cant make any money) high unemployment, reducing public spending e.t.c. And u dont expect a private owned company who's excess focus is on maximity of profit to employ much workers, so there4 unemployment increase in privitisation. All the country following America in excessive capitalist or Thatcherism should watch their themselves. And 1.6million employment is an end of year lie. 8000 candidates go for a job requiring 14 to 45 seats and that employment offer is once annually, then how is 1.6million employed? Jonathan, all state govts and senators collecting constituency projects monies in name of better oversight should work.

Where are the jobs? Inside her puff puff cheeks?

crooksandlairs.com


smh...

GHOST JOBS!!!

scipher: the probability of you being amongst the 1.6m is slim given our population size..

tell me something I don't know.. Are you looking at our population as a nation or the population of unemployed among us?

Her people from SE will soon come and support her, especially the jobless ones.

make una no vex she know say everything way she dey do starts and ends on d paper.nah ghost workers dem dey employ. All GEJ regime is good at is setting up of committee and programme without result!#fresh air tins#

This woman has worked her way up as one of naija's biggest problems. It is enough we arent making the progress we desire. Lying about it poses double jeopardy to the people and the State.

Let us assume that the Minister is correct, with an estimated 30% of Nigerians 'formal' unemployed, (which translate to nearly 48 million Nigerians, assuming the population of 160 million Nigerians is correct), does the 1.6 million jobs touted by the Minister not translate to a drop in the ocean?

Let us take it one step further, assuming the government sustain the tempo of creating a 'mere' 1.6 million jobs year on year, it will take Nigeria 30 years to formally absorb all of the 48 million currently unemployed - this also assumes that the population of unemployed remain stagnant at 48 million and population remain stagnant at 160 million.

It is very obvious that this government does not grasp the real depth of chaos this country is hedging towards, as she continue to elaborate and celebrate below par achievements!

With the enormous opportunities that abound in Nigeria, the Federal Government alone should be creating directly and in-directly at least 3 million jobs yearly!

The job figures clearly confirms what some of us have being saying: The Economy is not developing in real terms, but only growing on paper!

Looking ahead though, from the snippet of the 2014 budget we have seen, it is very glaring that the government has no effective and effectual strategy in place to create as twice of 1.6 million jobs by year end 2014.

Finally, can the Minister also tell us HOW MANY NIGERIANS WERE:

1. OUT OF FORMAL JOB IN 2013
2. MADE REDUNDANT EITHER BY COMPULSION OR BY IMPACT OF FEDERAL AND STATE GOVERNMENTS POLICIES
3. TOOK VOLUNTARY JOB ABSENCE FOR OTHER REASONS.

I don't know what this govenment has taken us for,cause they love spewing out unrealistic figures all the time.no b only 1.6m sef,na all nigerians dem employ,rubbish!!!

Yes, 1.6 million ghost workers earning 1.6 billion naira monthly.

With all due respect ma'am y is it growing @ a snails paste. Why isn't it moving @ d same speed as the money spent on all dese projects, let give u benefit of doubt that u have give 1.6million job, how much was spent to achieve this? My opinion, Give each of the 1.6million candidate N1million each wuld have bin cheaper than all these projects. U don't spend (hypothetical) N600billion just to get 1.6million people jobs and still say it slow, so by d tym we hit the targeted number of employment almost halve of tax payers money will disappear.

Oloshi oloriburuku somebody. Useless lair. Madam you got your figures from the moon.

#BloodySycophant

Dr Ngozi is a renowned economist, a theorist on how the factors of social exchange interact to create growth. This woman does not know what to do or how to transform growth pragmatically. It is evident in this report and many such reports issued by her in past. We need pragmatists who can substantially back up the creation of 1.6million jobs and move productivity and earning power on the ground up.

Guys stop cussing her please, she is not to blame; we are at fault for misidentifying our needs.

The only person I know that has been given a job by these people is sincere 9gerian.

Where are the pillars of the retardeenic GEJ administration to defend their joblessness?? Well, I'm waiting because now you all have been employed within the 1.6 M jobs created! LWKMD!

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Sloan: Where are the pillars of the retardeenic GEJ administration to defend their joblessness?? Well, I'm waiting because now you all have been employed within the 1.6 M jobs created! LWKMD!

Very funny. You mean the hired e-fighters abi. Well na job be that too. Okupe pays them handsomely.

make I just be her daughter's fiance.
that's wat they call true employment.

I know this thread will generate enough crisis. The thread also got me thinking. This report should be a monthly report and not at the end of the year you wake up and say you provided 1.6million jobs. Another voodoo economics.