Employment and poverty reduction

By Eze Onyekpere

The National Bureau of Statistics has redefined employment to mean any persons whoperformed any work for pay or profit for at least one hour in the last seven days. Previously, the minimum threshold was 20 hours per week. The last official data reported unemployment in Nigeria in single digits. Even in this scenario, the rate of informal employment, a euphemism for unemployment in Nigeria, remains high being 93% in Quarter 2 2024 when the last report was issued. This development makes the labour data not so relevant for government to plan job creation initiatives. In this season of politics and elections, political parties and candidates need to contextualise employment creation and poverty reduction as key issues for the engagement of the electorate.

Unemployment cannot be decoupled from poverty statistics considering that the Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index Report of 2022 puts the percentage of people living in poverty at 63% which today translates to not less than 144million Nigerians out of a population of 230million. Employment is coupled in international policy frameworks with a capacity to earn a decent living for the employed and the family.

S.17 (3) (a) of the 1999 Constitution provides that the State shall direct its policy towards ensuring that- (a) all citizens, without discrimination on any group whatsoever, have the opportunity for securing adequate means of livelihood as well as adequate opportunity to secure suitable employment.The African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights are ratified treaties binding on Nigeria.Article 15 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights provides that every individual shall have the right to work under equitable and satisfactory conditions, and shall receive equal pay for equal work.Article 6 (1) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights states that States Parties to the present Covenant recognise the right to work, which includes the right of everyone to the opportunity to gain his living by work which he freely chooses or accepts, and will take appropriate steps to safeguard this right.

Job creation will result from a more productive, integrated and an economy growing sustainably. There are sectors that traditionally generate more jobs for the population such as agriculture, small and medium size industries, technology, construction and real estate, health, education, etc. A review of the education curriculum across board matching curriculum with acquisition of relevant skills and competencies needed in a modern economy is imperative. The role of data in linking education with industry should be explored. Nigeria should no longer be running a certification education system but a system that produces the competencies needed in farms, firms and innovation centres.

Employment is also coupled with a reasonable national minimum wage that takes care of the worker’s right to reasonable standard of living. The current minimum wage is a starvation wage. It is less than $50 a month.Therefore the question for political parties would be: What would the party do to increase employment in Nigeria and to give Nigerian workers a reasonable national minimum wage? Would the party continue the current methodology for calculating employment/unemployment that contributes nothing to sound economic management in Nigeria?

Poverty reduction is a cross cutting issue that resonates in every sector and on the implementation of every government policy. It is not a stand-alone programme. It is the concentric circle of creating value across different value chains, reduced imports and patronage of made in Nigeria goods and services, building local capacity in an inclusive policy environment where no one is left behind. Trade, education, fiscal, monetary, industrial, labour and productivity policies are central to poverty reduction. Although Nigeria needs a social security policy, poverty reduction is not about handouts or payment of stipends. However, stipends can be an option to attend to the immediate needs of the poorest of the poor but to be phased out when they enter the sustainability stage. Cash handouts funded from borrowed funds is not sustainable and contributes to the creation of other challenges around debts and deficits.

Government’s failure in the protection of lives and property, manifesting in insecurity across many states of Nigeria generates poverty as farmers can no longer safely cultivate their lands and harvest the produce. This results in the loss of livelihoods and eventual poverty. Targeted policies focusing on vulnerable groups or groups with large numbers of the poor including women, youth and people living with disability is imperative for the reduction of poverty.

Proper implementation of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund of the National Health Act and the Vulnerable Group Fund of the National Health Insurance Authority Act reduces vulnerabilities related to health. Proper implementation of the Universal Basic Education Scheme also removes the vulnerabilities related to education. These are all critical components in the measurement of multi-dimensional poverty. A responsive agriculture and food security sector will take care of the right to feed oneself while access to adequate housing resolves housing as an indicator of poverty.

According to Agenda 2050 Policy Objectives for Poverty Reduction, Nigeria aims to drastically reduce poverty and income inequality through by 2050 and create a pathway to economic empowerment for all Nigerians. To attain this goal, the government will be guided by the following key policy objectives- reduce the number of the poor in Nigeria; promote social equity in Nigeria; ensure that people have access to social amenities/services including the vulnerable of all regions in the country; introduce a social protection ecosystem to ensure that people do not fall into or remain in poverty and ensure that economic growth is sustainable and inclusive.

Data driven targeting – collection, harmonisation and maintenance of a single social register, elimination of duplicated efforts and the silo operational strategy, mainstreaming gender and inclusivity, organisation and strengthening of cooperatives, targeting the rural economy, effective programme coordination, etc., will contribute to a responsive poverty eradication programme.

In conclusion, corruption must be removed from the poverty reduction programme; it should be run by technocrats and not politicians. The ultimate question is:  How would the political partiesand candidates address these challenges?

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