Yemisi Izuora
As the Nigerian economy slipped into a recession in the second quarter of 2016 with a decline in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by -2.06%, the stage is sets for the WorldStageEconomic Summit (WES) 2016.
The event which will hold in Lagos will draw experts and top industry players who are expected to address the unemployment challenges facing the country.
Mr Segun Adeleye, President/CEO, World Stage Limited said the theme of the summit ‘Addressing the Unemployment Crisis in Nigeria’ was inspired by the need to identify and proffer solutions to the growing unemployment problem in every sector of Nigerian economy.
He said the summit to be graced by policy makers from the executive and the leadership of the National Assembly who are in the right position to formulate policies that can reverse the job losses trend, will identify the employment generation potentials of every sector of the economy from agriculture, ICT, maritime, banking & finance, mining, aviation, construction, oil and gas and others and then address what they need to realise their full potential.
Among the top officials that will make presentations at summit includ Senator Abdullahi Adamu, Chairman Senate Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development; Mr. Mordecai Ladan, Director, Department of Petroleum ResourcesMrs Omolara Aromolaran, MD/CEO, Crown Natures Nigeria Plc; SenatorDonald Omotayo Alaosoadura, Chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum (Upstream); Dr. Gloria Elemo, Director General/CEO, Federal Institute of Industrial Research (FIIRO); and Mr Waheed Olagunju, Acting Managing Director, Bank of Industry (BoI).
Others include Mrs Efua Edeh, Executive Director, Junior Achievement Nigeria; Ms Funke Opeke, MD/CEO, MainOne; Mr Oladele Amoda, MD/CEO, Eko Electric; MD/CEO, IkejaElectric and Acting Managing Director of Nexim Bank, BashiWali.
According to Adeleye, the alarming rate of unemployment in Nigeria should not only be of great concern to the government, but also to the private sector and other critical stakeholders in the economy.
“Though, unemployment is a global problem, but for us in Nigeria, it is endemic, as our high population growth is out of proportion with the economic development and productivity.
Recent World Bank data put the country’s population at 182,201,962,” he said.
He said the summit will also review the economic potentials of the states and local governments in order to arrive at sustainable development strategy for them to be economically viable with or without revenue from federation account.
He said, it will “assist government on the policies that will make the economy productive, globally competitive and generate jobs; it will provide knowledge base for government on how to save billions of naira in revenue, diversify economy, create jobs and end the practice of committing the largest portion of income to the payment of civil servants’ salaries among others.”