President Bola Tinubu has launched the Labour, Employment and Empowerment Programme (LEEP), designed to create 2.5 million jobs and opportunities within two years for unemployed Nigerians.
Tinubu said Nigeria was ready to lead in the future of work and prepared to meet the demands of the changing world.
The LEEP is a flagship programme of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, with six core pillars comprising job portal, digital nomads, vocational and entrepreneur programme, centre for learning spaces, digital Academy and job fairs.
Tinubu, who was represented by Vice President, Kashim Shettima, maintained that Nigeria was home to vast opportunities the youths could explore.
The president expressed confidence that Nigeria and by extension Africa, was prepared to become the world’s next destination.
According to him, LEEP was the fulfilment of the promise of a Nigeria where every worker could reach their full potential, and where technology enhances, not threatens democracy
He said: “The road ahead may be challenging, but with our collective effort, determination, and faith in our shared potential, we will succeed.
“We are at the threshold of a new era. One, where our workforce is empowered, where our economy is strengthened, and where our people are equipped to compete globally. So this is a declaration that Nigeria is ready to lead in the future of work, we are prepared for the demands of the changing world. I believe we are prepared.
“I believe the future belongs to Africa. The trajectory of global growth faces Africa. One out of every four black men is a Nigerian. By 2050, one out of every three black men will be a Nigerian and by the end of the century, Nigeria will be the most populous nation on Earth, and one out of every two black men will be a Nigerian.
“Believe in Nigeria, let’s make this country work, let’s unite for the sake of this country. Let’s work together to define the meaning and concept of modern progress. I believe tomorrow is going to be better than today.”
President Tinubu appealed to Nigerians, especially the youths, to stay back and develop the country rather than run off in search of greener pastures abroad.
“Opportunities abound, all we need is to upgrade and re-skill our youths, they don’t need to japa from the comfort of their homes in Lagos, in Onitsha, in Sokoto. You can create jobs for our people.
“The strength of this nation has always been its people. Their ingenuity and they are willing to rise against the odds. The dream or arrogance, the self-confidence that we exude, we don’t give in to another person coming on the way out of respect or out of care, we can hold our ground.”
President Tinubu, who noted that the government in its wisdom was laying the foundation of inclusive progress, called for a multisectoral collaboration.
“Beginning from our six geopolitical zones, we are laying the foundation for inclusive progress. Yet the government cannot do this alone. I call upon the private sector, civil society, trade unions, and our international partners to join us. We must play the role that is not just in private, but in power. This is a collective effort.”
Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Muhammad Maigari Dingyadi noted that unemployment remains one of the severe social problems facing youths globally either directly or remotely, with far-reaching consequences that have multi-faceted implications that must not be ignored.
He said: “In Nigeria, this can be attributed to various reasons which include economic instability due to recessions and depressions, inadequate quality education and training to match the available jobs, as well as the difficult circumstances that businesses operate in, which are not conducive for creating new jobs.”
Dingyadi maintained that LEEP was a deliberate effort by the government to mitigate the aforementioned challenges related to youth unemployment, having recognised that adequate skilling and entrepreneurship were critical solutions to the problem of unemployment.
“Through this programme, our target is to create millions of jobs annually and reduce unemployment rate significantly. One of the underlying strategies LEEP is to identify marketable skills and build the capacity of youth in these areas to juxtapose requisite skills with identified demands, as well as encourage self-employment sustainability.
“This programme, when fully operational, will not only tackle youth unemployment but will address the other cross-cutting lingering challenges such as security and economic growth that will advance our national priorities and the attainment of the Renewed Hope Agenda of this administration,” he added.
Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, who described the high rate of unemployment in Nigeria as a “clear and present danger” to a collective future, said the ministry was poised to empower Nigerians with the skills and platforms they need to thrive in factories, farms, tech hubs, markets, and every corner of national economy.
According to her, LEEP was designed to amongst other things, expand access to sustainable employment, equip Nigerians with industry-aligned skills, stimulate entrepreneurship and economic diversification, and serve as a national aggregator of real-time labour market data to help. government, investors, and employers understand the evolving demands of the Nigerian economy.
“Nigeria’s unemployment challenge is not just a statistic. It is a clear and present danger to our collective future. The numbers speak for themselves and they demand urgent, coordinated action.
“With LEEP, we are setting a clear national target: to directly and indirectly create at least 2.5 million sustainable jobs within two years, while laying the foundation for long term growth and productivity. But make no mistake, LEEP is not just a programme; it is an institutional shift. A signal that the Ministry of Labour and Employment is stepping forward to play its full constitutional role: training, upskilling, coordinating, and connecting
Nigerians to meaningful work,” she said.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the organised labour comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) tasked the government to ensure jobs under its LEEP programme were decent, sustainable and payment were above the N70,000 new minimum wage.
The workers bodies’ maintained that meaningful employment was the “best way” to address the rising surge in social vices including banditry,. insurgency and kidnappings.
Country Director of the ILO office for Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone, Dr. Vanessa Phala, noted that leadership was being able to envisage a vision like LEEP and put together the necessary team and resources to make it a reality.
Phala however emphasised the need for the federal government to ensure the jobs being created under LEEP for Nigerians were not only decent, but their wages should be above the new minimum wage of N70,000.
She said: “The objective is very important in terms of establishing and creating 2.5 million jobs and I want to really emphasise the need to ensure that all those jobs are decent and in the context of Nigeria, to make sure that none of those job holders will be paid below the minimum wage.
“This is not just a launch, It is a commitment to transformation and to transforming lives, to unlocking potential, as well as reshaping the future of work in Nigeria. It really marks the beginning of real opportunities where our youth, especially our young persons that are seeking employment opportunities, will be able to have a sustainable livelihood, as well as contribute meaningfully to the growth and the economic development of their societies.”
Speaking on behalf of organised labour, President of NLC, Comrade Joe Ajaero cautioned the government against using LEEP as a platform to create casual jobs with meagre take home pay that would not be able to meet the needs of the workers at the end of the day.
He said: “I pray that it will be a programme that will bring sustainable jobs, not casual jobs, not jobs that the wages will not be able to take workers home.
“I think at every point in time, we need to be involved in what is happening to us because we know where it is pinching us.
“Programmes without the input of the workers are not the best. And I wish to advise all policy formulators to coordinate with the implementers of such policies, so that we will have a level playing ground and end successfully on such a programme.”
Ajaero charged state governors to replicate the job initiative in their various states, even as he noted that labour would continue to dialogue and engage government on a sustainable and conducive working environment for Nigerian workers.
Director – General, National Directorate of Employment (NDE), Mr. Silas Agara noted that although unemployment was a global phenomenon, the federal government was tackling the challenge using various strategies and models.
Agara, who noted that all the agencies under the federal ministry of labour and employment were committed to engendering decent jobs, promote economic growth, create wealth and reduce poverty, further pledged their commitment towards actualising the Renewed Employment Agenda of the President Tinubu’s administration through skills and employability training.
He said: “I call on all stakeholders, public, private and multilateral, to partner with the Ministry under the LEEP umbrella. Let us pool resources, share intelligence and unlock opportunities across communities and sectors. Let us do this not for ourselves but for the millions of Nigerians who deserve meaningful and decent jobs.
Original article from The Nation
