Lagos – A financial analyst, Mr Titus Okurounmu, on Wednesday advised the Federal Government to make funds available to revamp ailing industries to check youth unemployment.
Okurounmu, a former Director of Research at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency (NAN) in Lagos.
He said that sinking more funds in ailing industries would ensure that many government-owned companies became functional and generate employment.
“We have a lot of government companies and projects in the various stages begging for completion in different parts of the country.
“Government can set aside special allocations to them within a specific time frame so that they can recruit unemployed youths,’’ he said.
Okurounmu said that government should do more to improve the infrastructure and encourage innovative youths to own their own businesses.
“I tell you that not all Nigerians are willing to become employees; some prefer being employers of labour.[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”70560″]
“However, the key infrastructure to facilitate the process must be in place such as steady power and the like,’’ Okurounmu said.
NAN reports that Nigeria’s unemployment rate rose to 9.9 per cent in the third quarter of 2015 according the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The NBS reported that a total of 20.7 million persons between the ages of 15 and 64 were willing and able to work during the period.
NBS said that 19.6 million persons were unemployed in second quarter, while 17.7 million were unemployed in in first quarter of 2015. (NAN)