2nd highest unemployment rating: Akwa Ibom govt faults NBS report

TRACKING___Akwa Ibom state government has faulted the report by the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, which rates the state second highest in the country.

The Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Ini Ememobong in a statement made available to newsmen yesterday in Uyo, said the NBS report calls for serious scrutiny

He stated, “The attention of Akwa Ibom State Government has been drawn to the ‘Labour Force Statistics: Unemployment and Underemployment Report’ by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), wherein it listed Akwa Ibom state as the state with the second-highest unemployment rate in the country.

“This conclusion, which calls for serious scrutiny, is unbelievable. The reality on ground in our state is in contradistinction to the Bureau’s 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, the 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 indeed the current administration has created quality jobs in an unprecedented manner.

“This reality is not attempting to deny the existence of unemployment-which is a global phenomenon worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic. As a responsible government, we intend to engage the National Bureau of Statistics, to ascertain the veracity of their processes and results”

The State image-maker who noted that the role of data in a survey is to reflect the existing reality, not to project the imaginary added that the state particularly demands answers to what was the sample size used in the survey and What was the spatial spread of the sample?

“What population figure did they use to obtain the percentage recorded for Akwa Ibom? What quality assurance mechanisms did they employ?; What was the temporal spread of the data used in the analyses?

“In order to ensure trust and confidence in statistical output, with which agency of the state government was the data source authentication done?

“It is common knowledge that unemployment has its permanent corollary, a spike in crime, increased youth restiveness etc. In our state, citizens, security agencies and guest alike, agree without any doubt, that we are Nigeria’s safest state.

“How then can a state be the safest, which has witnessed an influx of industries and other economic activities, purveyed by local cum foreign investors and still be the state with the second-largest unemployment percentage?” He questioned