How to honour dead Immigration applicants, by Okonjo-Iweala

 

Abuja—The Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister iof Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has said that the best way to remember Nigerian youths who lost their lives at the recent recruitment exercise into the Nigeria Immigration Service was to create more jobs for the unemployed.

She spoke at the Housing Stakeholders Summit in Abuja, yesterday, where she reiterated the determination of the President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration to create more jobs for youths in several sectors, including the housing, agriculture and ICT sectors, among others.

Her words, “the best way to honour the memory of the youths who died during the immigration exercise is for us to work harder to create more jobs.
“We created 1.6m jobs as confirmed by the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, but these are not enough. Every year 1.8m new entrants come into the job market. This is in addition to 5.3million  that have accumulated over time. So we need to work harder and faster to create more jobs for our youths.

“We are focusing on housing because this sector can significantly increase the number of jobs in addition to growing the economy. This sector will create jobs for builders, carpenters, plumbers, managers, interior decorators and so many jobs.

“This event is not for long grammar. It is about action; it is about numbers, it is about meeting targets and deadlines so that the jobs will be created and the houses built.”
In her address, the Minister Lands, housing and Urban Development, Mrs Akon Eyakenyi, said the Federal Government would reverse the current situation of foreigner artisans’ domination of the housing sector in the country.

She noted that foreigners constituted the critical mass of skilled artisans and craftsmen in the country’s housing industry, adding that the Federal Government would soon commence the training of artisans to take over the industry.

To this end, she revealed that the government would flag off a train-the-trainers programme involving over 1000 artisans and craftsmen in partnership with the National Home Builders Association and Home Builders Institute of the United States of America. USA.