N5,000 stipends: No statistics of unemployed Nigerians, says Minister

The Minister of  State for Labour and Employment, James Ocholi (SAN), on Wednesday revealed that the ministry currently does not have data on the number of unemployed Nigerians according to Punch .

It requires the data to enable it prepare the template for beneficiaries of the proposed N5,000 stipends for the unemployed/ vulnerable Nigerians.

The minister said this while responding to questions from reporters at the National Secretariat of the All Progressives Congress, Abuja.

According to him, the ministry recently commissioned a firm to capture the data of the under-employed/ unemployed to enable it prepare the necessary template for the effective take off of the scheme.

He also explained that the ministry has written a memo to the President through the Secretary to the Government of the Federation for it to take over the over 76 federal skills acquisition centres spread across Nigeria.

Ocholi said, “Before we got to where we are there is no data anywhere. There is no data of the unemployed.

“In fact, there is no data of the employed. It’s a bad situation but as we talk with you, we have experts working on the software and the various things which we have discussed with them on how to capture the data of the employed and the unemployed. And for those who are employed there are many who are in wrong places.

“There are many who are in jobs they don’t even enjoy and who want to have a job better than what they are doing right now.

“There is a firm that we sort for and is working with the National Directorate of  Employment, they have done a pilot scheme in Bwari and they have an office in Lobito Crescent right now and they are preparing for a mega scale on job profiling.”

He explained that experience has shown that there were people who have acquired a particular skill but are not suited for the kind of jobs they find themselves doing.

The current administration he noted was determined to provide an enabling environment for the private sector which is the driving force in the area of job creation to thrive.

In response to specific plans towards actualizing the disbursement of the N5,000 stipends to deserving citizens, the Minister said details were being worked out.

He, however, said beneficiaries will be categorized in such a way that graduates who will attend skills acquisition centres will be paid something above what they earned as youth corps members.

Ocholi said, “In other words, while being trained you earn something, that will bridge the gap between now and when they begin to open their shops and employ their own labour. Part of the N5,000 you hear may not actually end up being N5,000.

“For instance, if a graduate chooses to go and acquire a skill and is taken to a centre for skill acquisition and he was earning N18,000 or N19,000 or whatever the range is as a youth corper, he can’t come back here and start earning that N5,000 it can’t sustain him.

“For a graduate, he may need to get something higher to keep him or her while going through that skills acquisition centre but for the retraining programme which we talk about teachers. The details are being worked out by the technocrats.”

With Punch

The tax fraud case of Messi and his father Jorge will be heard in May

Lionel Messi’s tax fraud case will be heard by a Barcelona court from 31 May through to 3 June, according to statement on Wednesday.

World Player of the Year Messi and his father Jorge are accused of defrauding the Spanish state of 4.2 million euros in tax between 2007 and 2009 and a Spanish court ordered that they stand trial last October.

The state attorney has proposed jail terms of up to 22 months if they are found guilty.

Barcelona forward Messi and his father have already paid five million euros to the tax authorities as a “corrective” measure after they were formally charged in June 2013.

With Eyewitness news

Confusion as Tanzania make a U-turn miniskirts ban

Tanzanian president John Magufuli. Picture:AFP

Tanzania’s government has dismissed reports that President John Magafuli has banned miniskirts.

The claim emerged this week in the Kenyan Standard Newspaper, suggesting that the president had attributed an increase in the spread of HIV/Aids to the garment.

The government has released a statement this afternoon saying the report is false, and that while the president is a strong proponent of decent dressing, there is no ban on miniskirts.

In the statement, the government said it deplored the casual manner in which the publication handled what it’s called a “hearsay report”.

It goes on to say the report and attribution of the “imaginary ban” to the Tanzanian statesman was reckless and totally unwarranted.

I’m the most hated man in America

TODD MAISEL/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Gersh Kuntzman — let the hate flow, America.

Judging by the response to my column Tuesday about how much I hate the Eagles, our nation has finally set aside its bitter debate over guns, Donald Trump, ISIS and Sean Penn in favor of laser-focused hatred of me.

Like I’ve always said, I’m a uniter, not a divider. Happy to do my part, nation.

For the record, all I said was that the Eagles were a bad rock band in an era of unparalleled innovation in music. It’s an opinion — one that I still believe is shared by a vast but silent minority of music fans.

The column unleashed an avalanche of hate mail that buried me deeper than anything I experienced after more controversial pieces. Guns? Gay marriage? War? Peace? The lie of iced coffee? Nothing earned me so much anger as my contention that the Eagles were just Barry Manilow with guitars. (Sorry, Manilow fans!) One woman called me "the worst thing about America." Not poverty, hunger, homelessness or violence. No, Gersh Kuntzman.

The hate mail led to unintended attention, making me a target on Yahoo News, radio shows, the New Yorker and countless blogs (here's my favorite). Usually, I’d let a column speak for itself — hey, I had my say — but so many people are misrepresenting my motive that I need to offer an insight into why I wrote what I wrote when I wrote it.

First things first: I was not dancing on Glenn Frey’s grave. From all accounts, he was a good man. Was it tasteless to write negatively about the Eagles hours after his death? On this, I plead no contest: The main occupational hazard of journalism is that we must write about timely subjects. That’s what we do. And the Eagles, by unfortunate dint of Frey’s death, were certainly timely on Tuesday. People wanted to know everything they could about the band and Frey — and some Google searchers probably wanted columnists to assess the band’s place in music history.

In a fast-paced news culture, taste can be collateral damage. The goal is to make sure people who are interested in a topic can get all the news they need.

But we all know that opinions are like a--holes — and to most of you, mine stinks. But I never said my opinion of the Eagles is the only valid one. I just said it was mine. Many of my detractors — I’m looking at you, Boomer and Carton— suggested that the Eagles’ overwhelming sales figures by definition make them a great band.

No, sorry. Just because millions of Baby Boomers toss down billions of $10 bills for records doesn’t mean they are right. Kids today have made One Direction the era’s biggest selling band — but in 50 years, will we be mourning Harry Styles like Glenn Frey? I think not.

Other email writers said my goal was just a click-bait ploy of “going negative.” My record speaks for itself: I praise the praiseworthy and nip the heel of the overrated. Isn’t that what journalism is about?

Some of my correspondents have called for my death, which I think is a bit ironic coming from fans of a band that wanted us to “Take it Easy” and enjoy a “Peaceful Easy Feeling.”

You are right that my contributions to the world pale by comparison to Glenn Frey’s — and it is equally true that no one will mourn my passing except for a couple of kids in Brooklyn — but I will defend your right to cement my sub-par place in American letters after I am gone.

Finally, to those of you who just made fun of my surname, I think you could do better. I may be rightfully accused of dancing on a great muscian's grave, but noticing the vulgar possibilities of my last name reminds me of third grade (and here come those tears again!).



With daily news

APC Is Winning The Anti-Corruption War - Sanusi Musa

Speaking to Channels Television, Mr Musa said the party was fulfilling the campaign promise that it would fight corruption in the nation.

He said that it was a thing of joy that the promise of change made to Nigerians during the party’s campaign had started manifesting.

The APC member also said that “from the revelation so far, every right thinking Nigerian, irrespective of his political party should be happy with and support this administration and pray for the President and his team to succeed in this fight against corruption”.

Mr Musa further pointed out that international communities have started supporting President Buhari in the anti-corruption fight, apparently referring to Nigeria’s signing of an agreement on Tuesday with the United Arab Emirate to aid recovery of stolen funds.

“We can see that not only from Nigeria, all international community, everywhere; they are supporting the President to make sure that he rids this country of this endemic corruption that has really taken us back far from where we are supposed to be.”

Speaking on the allegation of selective anti-corruption fight, Mr Musa said those criticising the method of the administration were indirectly admitting that those arrested actually committed the offence.

“What we suppose to hear from people is to say that somebody did not commit that particular offence because by saying that it is selective, indirectly you are admitting that the people that are being arrested have committed the offence”.

“the fact that they are in the opposition or the fact that some people suspect that some people who are members of the APC have committed the same offence, is not an excuse for those people to be allowed to go scot-free.”

"the President had called on anyone with valid information about corrupt practices of his cabinet member to make it known."

“The President has said it. If you have any cogent and verifiable fact that shows that any member of his cabinet or any member of his party is involved in any case of corruption, bring it forth. He is going to deal with it,” Mr Musa said

Giving his view on why the Peoples Democratic Party Spokesman, Olisa Metuh, was brought before the court handcuffed, he expressed beliefs that such will not repeat itself.

“I want to believe that the Attorney General of the Federation will take that up and make sure that subsequently, anyone coming to court, not only Mr Metuh,  will not be seen with a handcuff,” he said.