The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has stated that the latest report by the National Bureau of Statistics on the country’s unemployment rate does not reflect economic realities.
News360 Info reports that the NBS in its latest report stated that Nigeria’s unemployment rate declined to 4.3 per cent in the second quarter of 2024, signalling improved labour market conditions.
According to the report, this marks a decrease from the 5.3 per cent recorded in Q1 2024 and reflects a gradual recovery from the 5.0 per cent in Q3 2023.
Reacting to the development while speaking to Punch, the National Assistant General Secretary of the NLC, Chris Onyeka, labelled the report as a “voodoo document” that fails to reflect the stark realities Nigerians face daily.
Onyeka dismissed the claim that unemployment is decreasing, calling it a “fabrication designed to mislead the public.”
He argued that it was impossible for employment to be coming down while factories were closing.
He said, “Unemployment cannot be coming down in Nigeria when factories are closing shops.
“It cannot be coming down when there is increasing inventory and reduced consumer spending. If anything, unemployment is increasing.”
He further questioned the methodology behind the NBS report, describing it as a “figment of imagination concocted by people who want to manipulate figures.”
According to Onyeka, the lack of alignment between the data and visible realities on the ground undermines the credibility of the statistics agency.
“Once data does not reflect reality, it loses relevance. Unfortunately, the NBS has lost credibility as a result of the data they continue spewing out,” he stated.
Onyeka challenged the NBS to substantiate its claims by identifying the sectors supposedly generating jobs. “Where are the jobs coming from? Is it from employers who are complaining of consumer resistance and slowing economic activities? It doesn’t add up,” he remarked.
He likened the situation to what he described as “INEC-style manipulation,” a term he used to draw parallels between perceived shortcomings in Nigeria’s election management and the NBS figures.
“Nigerians can go to court if they don’t like the figures. But the truth remains: the NBS has become a failed institution, much like INEC in the eyes of the public,” Onyeka concluded.
