I Will Create 3 Million Jobs Annually — Atiku

Presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has promised to create three million jobs, every year, if he is elected as president in 2019.

This was one of the key points in the policy document released by the PDP flagbearer, yesterday, which details a seven-year timeline in which he intends to deliver on his campaign promises.

Giving a breakdown of the rate of unemployment in the country, Atiku said: “Close to 16 million people are unemployed, nine million more than in 2014.

“Over two million new entrants join the labour force each year meaning the unemployed share of the labour force more than tripled in less than a decade: from 5.1% in 2010 to 18.8% in 2017.

“Unemployment for women and young people is at 33%, 70% of unemployed youths are uneducated and unskilled.

“Creating jobs and economic opportunities for these people will be vital both for reducing the pool of easy recruits for violent groups and reducing underlying grievances that feed the conflict”.

As a solution, he said his administration, if elected in 2019 will, “Launch a new, more efficient, cost-effective and sustainable national Entrepreneurship Development and Job Creation Programme…”