Joe Effiong, Uyo
All Progressives Congress (APC) has asked Akwa Ibom State Government to effectively deal with the high rate of unemployment and underemployment based on the 2020 report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBC)
NBC, in the said report, had rated Akwa Ibom with the second highest unemployment rate in the country at 45.2 percent, translating to 1.14 million people, with about 551,000 people underemployed, while both the underemployment rate and unemployment rate was 66.9 percent.
But the government had hit back at the NBC that the reality on ground in the state is in contradistinction to the report.
“A juxtaposition of the said report with the reality of the existence and operation of the numerous industries in our state, the recruitment into the civil and public service, Public Private Partnership initiatives, award of direct labour contracts, our airline and general aviation businesses, qualitative cash support and interest free loans to entrepreneurs, financial and input support to farmers; the obvious conclusion will confirm that the current administration has created quality jobs in an unprecedented manner.
“This reality is not attempting to deny the existence of unemployment that is a global phenomenon worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
In a statement by the Commissioner for Information and Strategies, Ini Ememobong, the sate questioned the sample size of the survey, the spatial spread of the sample, the population used to obtain the percentage, the quality assurance mechanisms used, the temporal spread of the data used in the analysis, and the agencies of the state government that data were sourced.
APC, through its Publicity Secretary, Nkereuwem Enyongekere, described the report as the most embarrassing and depressing economic data that has ever been recorded for the state in its 33-year history, especially as it comes at a time the state is the highest earner of oil revenue.
“We are compelled to ask the state government to explain this paradox. We should note that unemployment is not our only scourge. Akwa Ibom has the second highest HIV/AIDS prevalence is the country,” the party said.