Another 10m Jobs

AFTER the last eight of speeches, the President Umaru Yar’Adua’s government is adopting the same approach in dealing with national issues that beckon for urgent solutions.

Something must tell those in government that fine speeches and figures satisfy Nigerians. Each problem is treated with a massive dose of distinctively befuddling statistics to impress Nigerians with government’s commitment to them. Once the particular gathering that unleashed these figures is over, Nigeria returns to sleep and in occasional moments of involuntary wakefulness, makes distant references to the problems.

Talks about infrastructure end without discernible polices to tackle the challenges. In the same manner, government glosses over the centrality of electricity supply to all spheres of our existence. South African energy firm, Eskom, has just borrowed $500 million from the Africa Development Bank to improve electricity coverage of the country from 72 per cent to 100 per cent by 2010. Industrial boom has caused electricity shortages in South Africa, which based on several investments, expects six per cent annual growth of its economy.

Minister of State for Finance, Mr. Remi Babalola, said the Federal Government would create 10 million jobs by 2011. As always, there are no details. Governments are not employing.
How would 10 million jobs be created with the steady decline in electricity supply and worsening security? What happened to past promises of millions of jobs?

More jobs are a fallacy where basic infrastructures like electricity, water, and roads are unavailable, as government officials themselves admit. Like most Nigerians, who expect them to handle these issues, our governments are content with complaining about infrastructure deficit and the consequences.
They may think these consequences are mere words while millions of Nigerians live through their stinging impact in the hunger, poverty, diseases and illiteracy that buffet a society that showed promise 50 years ago. Occasionally, the authorities shift blame for the malaise, a firm hint that solutions are far away.

Mr. Babalola fell squarely in that range when he recommended prudent spending for state governors, for Nigeria to retain the modest economic progress it had made. This tendency to blame others, and failing to admit the consistent failure of the Federal Government to achieve results from the trillions of Naira appropriated to it annually, is a credo of the Federal Government and largely accounts for the awful performance of this society.

From next year through 2011, the government Mr. Babalola serves would be too busy plotting its re-election to remember job creation.