The job creation strategy for a state will be executed on the following fronts:
Equipping job seekers with information and skills required to secure employment
Job seekers in the state will be encouraged to register on the state government website; stating their qualifications, skills, area of interest, etc. This will amongst other things, enable the state to measure the magnitude of the unemployment problem.
The state will engage staff who will go through newspapers and online job adverts to extract vacancy information that will be fed into the database which will send automated SMS alerts to those on the database, based on their interest and qualification.
Training materials on CV writing and interviewing skills will be place on the site for their use, along with a listing of the top online job search engine. There will also be information on networking sites like LinkedIn. Users will also be encouraged to share information they have on recruitment exercise that are not advertised – a significant portion in Nigeria. These will be communicated by SMS alerts to registered users just like the advertised openings.
Job seekers will also be encouraged to take free online open courseware offered by EdX and Coursera to enable them upgrade their skills and generally continue acquiring new knowledge while waiting for the job offers.
Empower people to start new businesses
Efforts here will be directed at providing entrepreneurial and vocational training in a wide range of fields with the collaboration of local and foreign organisations identifying with the effort.
Efforts will also be made at providing information on business opportunities available in the state and directing people to sites like – www.smallstarter.com
Seminars will also be organised to enlighten “would-be” entrepreneurs on the support available for them from government agencies i.e. BOI, etc. with the state standing ready to facilitate the process. Business incubation centres and mentoring relationships will be encouraged.
Attracting new businesses to the state
The state will seek to position itself as the most favoured destination for local and foreign businesses wishing to set up operations in the country by addressing all the ease of doing business issues that concern investors. The successful attraction of just a handful of large labour-intensive businesses can make a big difference in the economy of the state, by the multiplier effect that their operation can unleash.
The state government will also seek to directly prompt industrial development by aiming private sector collaboration to set up SMEs tied into the its natural resources endowment. The target been that at least one new industrial establishment (between N25 million to N150 million) is set up each month, such that there will be about 48 small scale enterprises scattered around the state by the end of the administration.
Empowering existing businesses to grow
All trades in the state will be encouraged to form trade groups, and these will hold bi-annual interactive sessions with government during which they will come up with specific measures they desire the government to put in place. The businesses will be encouraged to form clusters to acquire specialised equipment with the support of government.
Hospitals in the state can for instance can do this to eradicate the need for our people travelling aboard for overseas medical treatment.
The state on its part will use the bi-annual interactive sessions to communicate its expectations from each group and seek their support buy-in for state projects that concern the trade group.
In addition, the state government will expect the trade groups to help provide gainful employment for indigenes of the state, take their corporate social responsibility seriously and ensure individual members pay their taxes.
Attracting youths into diverse businesses
Nigeria currently is not producing enough food to feed the teeming population, as evident by the large amount of scarce foreign exchange we expend on food imports and the high price that available food items attract into our markets.
This challenge should be viewed as a wonderful opportunity to recruit young people into the agriculture sector to help address the problem and retain in the country money that would have otherwise been spent on imports.
This could involve inviting local or international organisations that have made a name in the production of particular crops or food item (poultry, aquaculture, etc.) to establish operations in the state with the agreement that a certain percentage of production will be produced by out-growers that will be trained and supported by the company.
Tourism
The travel & tourism industry is one of the largest in today’s global economy, generating about $8 trillion and providing over 235 million jobs worldwide.
State governments need to actively collaborate with hotel owners, traditional institutions and other stakeholders to make the state an attractive destination for tourists. Possible partners should be explored with experienced operators from countries like Morocco, Egypt and Kenya.
Mining
Artisanal mining by its heavy reliance manual operation has the potential for massive job and wealth creation where properly regulated. We shall also pursue the establishment of precious stone cutting and polishing firms to add value to the mineral products and to stem the exploitation of our local miners by unscrupulous merchants.
OYEWOLE TOYIN
