Dr. Chris Ngige, Nigeria’s Minister of Labour and Productivity, Dr. Chris Ngige, has said the country is on the verge of being consumed by social unrest due to increasing rate of employment in the country.
Ngige, who spoke in Enugu at the weekend, stated that Nigeria would become like Venezuela if the country does not begin to tackle unemployment immediately.
The minister highlighted insecurity and unemployment as major symptoms of a failing country noting that the two plagues Nigeria.
He said, “So, unemployment is growing into a big cankerworm. It is growing into a very vicious disease condition that has given rise to a lot of anti-social behaviours.
“The symptoms are there. Boko Haram is a symptom of unemployment in Nigeria. IPOB is a symptom of unemployment and desperation and people getting frustrated. Same goes for banditry in the North-West. Same goes for kidnapping all over the country. Avengers – the destruction of oil pipelines, OPC – all these are symptoms of very serious underlying disease condition called unemployment.
“All arsenals, everything will be put into place, so that we can fight unemployment. Otherwise, it will consume everybody. It will consume me and you.
“It is already showing when you are in traffic and people are knocking on your car window to ask you to give them your phone. If you don’t give them, they will attack you. “That is the big malaise.”
Ngige, however, stated that President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration is tackling the two issues and would fashion a way out, DailyTrust reports.