Many have wondered why Imo State is the unemployment centre of the nation. They have argued that it means that the government in Imo State, over the years, has done a more terrible job than the governments in the rest of the country. Well, we have had terrible governments but that does not explain our lead in the unemployment market.
We are top in unemployment because we are graduating the most students from universities and we don’t have opportunities for them to secure jobs or create jobs for themselves. Some other states don’t have employment or business opportunities but they don’t have large entrants into the employment market. If you graduate an average of 4,000 young men and women from the universities every year and your industries and commercial outfits can only employ 500 and another state graduates 2,000 and can employ 100 persons, you have a higher unemployment rate. The demand and supply of employable persons determine the unemployment rates.
In Imo State, like other states’ focus for employment has been on civil service jobs as there are few commercial and industrial activities. The reason is because governance in these states has been political rather than entrepreneurial. Those states have not been entrepreneurial. An entrepreneurial state is one that drives investment and productivity as a business would, so as to enhance efficient production.
We saw such governance with the late Dr Michael Okpara in the defunct Eastern Region when we became the fastest growing economy in the world. Okpara established several cottage industries and commercial outfits. In one fell swoop, Internally Generated Revenue grew astronomically such that Okpara believed that if Nigeria followed the vision, it could reach the GDP and per capita levels of developed economies in less than 15 years. Because Okpara understood the principles of economic development and social transformation, he was able to create wealth and jobs through efficient public sector leadership. He did not wait for the nonexistent private sector to drive development. Like the East Asian leaders, he understood the concept of a developmental state and utilised all natural resources in sustainable manner to create wealth and jobs.
We can and should replicate Okpara’s vision in Imo State and the former Eastern Region. The same structure and resources remain, the only things missing are is the knowledge and character.
To solve the high unemployment evidenced in the state, the Imo State Government needs two strategic actions. First, it needs to go back to cottage industries across the state and the region. When I ran for governorship primary, I identified prospects for one cottage industry every quarter in every LGA in Imo State employing about 100-150 persons. This will cater to the unskilled and semi-skilled young men and women. Again, government should encourage the establishment of ICT and innovation incubation centres to enable high skilled and educated youths to attract digital jobs across the world. This, supplemented with entrepreneurial training and financial support, will help many to develop new start-ups. With about 99% literacy and high quality human capital, Imo State should be Africa’s capital of start-ups. That’s why in my vision, I boasted of making Imo State the Bangalore of Africa.
We need this twin approach to deal with unemployment in Imo State: cottage industries for low skills and high-end digital hubs for high skills. But you first need a focused government that is stable and democratic. Okpara got this right when he urged Nigeria to develop consensual governance that will enable rapid economic development.
Dr Sam Amadi, Abuja
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What have now in Imo state is money for pocket not investment. Corrupted set of people who can change the situation nd bring us to the p promise land. Imo is the hand of God