The 2006 census found that Nigeria had 140 million people of whom a little over half were in the north. Results said northern Kano state was the most populous with 9.4 million while Lagos was in second place with 9 million.
But the Lagos state government conducted its own headcount in parallel with the national one, and Governor Ahmed Bola Tinubu has said the result was 17.5 million and the state would challenge the 9 million figure in parliament and in the courts. Lagos state is almost entirely made up of the city of Lagos. The figure is totally rejected … The database is faulty. It has to be discarded,” Tinubu was quoted as telling the media – Reuters
Unemployment figures
The last time we conducted our national census it was confusion galore. We recall the numbers released by Lagos State government was completely different from the ones released by the federal authorities . The enumerators sat side by side taking the numbers from the citizens and we wonder how that could be the case. We have since found out that exercise was a cosmetic one as the outcome makes no sense.
Our leaders don’t seem to like numbers except they favour their political agenda. We are therefore not surprised that unemployment figures for the past two years have not been made available by the government.
Read also: Why FG postponed 2023 national census
According to media sources it’s been two years since the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released Nigeria’s official unemployment data of 33.3 percent for the fourth quarter of 2020, but no figures have been released since then.
Such bad figures as this one points to the fact that policies are not translating into desired outcome and leaders should go back to the planning board to re-strategise . Our reaction was simply to stop the exercise and pretend all is well. All is not well at all with a policy akin to winking in the dark and expecting others to respond to our action.
Analysts say the delay is not good for Africa’s biggest economy as it shows a case of misplaced priority towards human capital development, lack of innovation, investments and wastage of resources towards solving unemployment in the country.
A country’s unemployment data is a major macroeconomic indicator that measures the performance of any economy, and helps to hold politicians and policymakers accountable for their promises.
“No meaningful development happens without valid, accurate, current and relevant data. If there is no access to it or it’s outdated, initiatives in a state are either designed blindly or implemented based on assumptions,”
We learnt from media sources that the National Bureau of Statistics would like to release monthly unemployment data when it has failed to produce credible quarterly data for use of stakeholders and planning.
The out going government has been accused of arrogance and nonchalance on many issues and this is another one. The spin doctors of the administration seem to have lost steam and just want to see out the tenure of the government. However it is not too late to conduct a credible state of employment survey that can help the incoming government tackle one of the major problems confronting the country.
Market research companies in the country like The Kantar Group, Ipsos , MRC, The Insight Place could also help the government conduct an objective study to look into the issue. Government should desist from seeing bad data about the performance of the economy as a death sentence or as an indictment. The opposition party would talk and make noise around the numbers but it would give the government an opportunity to correct policy mistake and refocus for the good of all.
According to the British government, the number of Nigerians given sponsored study or student visas rose to the highest in four years by 768.7 percent to 59,053 in 2022. The number of new study permits issued by Canada to Nigerians increased year-on-year by 17.8 percent to 16,195 in 2022. These are subtle indication of brain drain caused by the absence of work after many years of search by tired youths.
The government could argue that the national unemployment rate is not caused by local development rather it is the sluggish global economy caused by the war in Ukraine plus the unstable oil price have impacted the country. The importance of credible data be it unemployment or otherwise should not be underestimated. Let’s do what is right. Let’s move forward.
