Information gathered from the Special Assistant to the President on Job Creation Initiatives, Josephine Washma, has it that the Federal Government intends to conduct a census of unemployed persons in the country early next year.
Washma, who spoke to Daily Sun at an end of year dinner party, organized by the management of Premier Petroleum Company Limited, in Abuja, said the new survey, which will be carried out nationwide, will form the basis for the implementation of job creation initiatives of government.
According to her, “We are embarking on a new unemployment survey, in conjunction with the National Bureau of Statistics, to update the existing data base. We believe that NBS already has the structures to ensure a successful survey”. She said the issue of unemployment cannot be properly addressed without a reliable data base, adding that proper job planning requires the knowledge of the number of the unemployed.
“So until we know how many persons are unemployed, how many are skilled, the number that are unskilled and how many of them can be given training upgrade to improve their performance… What has been done before was a general survey but we want to segment that do as to enable us to direct efforts at those areas that are of critical importance,” she added.