{"id":391767,"date":"2018-01-15T16:04:53","date_gmt":"2018-01-15T16:04:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=391767"},"modified":"2018-01-15T17:36:12","modified_gmt":"2018-01-15T17:36:12","slug":"high-unemployment-a-national-security-issue-bawumia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2018\/01\/high-unemployment-a-national-security-issue-bawumia\/","title":{"rendered":"High unemployment a ‘national security’ issue – Bawumia"},"content":{"rendered":"
Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia has stated that the high levels of youth unemployment in the country are a reflection of the state of the economy they inherited from the previous administration.<\/p>\n
He admits it is a national security issue, but assured that his government is working\u00a0towards creating an enabling environment that will allow the private sector to thrive in order to drive the job creation agenda.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”Q6IjqSMu0FeHi4BFE8YeJjAGAFISj4Hp”]Speaking at the 69th Annual New Year School and Conference at the Great Hall of the University of Ghana, Dr. Bawumia admitted the current unemployment levels were a \u201cnational security issue\u201d, but insisted that the government was committed to ensuring that the problem is addressed.<\/p>\n
\u201cHigh unemployment is the key and most pressing issue of our time. It is a national security issue because the devil finds work for idle hands. Ultimately the high level of unemployment is a reflection of the underlined weaknesses in our economy. This is why the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has placed job creation as the number one priority of government,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The event was under the theme \u201cJob creation for Accelerated\u00a0 National Development: The role of the private sector,\u201d which was a major point for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) well before they assumed office.<\/p>\n
The Vice President emphasized that it is important for the private sector to play a leading role in the creation of jobs with government only serving as a facilitator,<\/p>\n
\u201cIt goes without saying that government\u2019s role is to put in place an enabling environment for the private sector to drive job creation. Fundamentally, however, you have to build an engine, and an engine has many parts but you have to build an engine that is going to drive job creation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u2018100, 000 jobs in 2018\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n Dr. Bawumia reiterated government\u2019s plans to create jobs for 100, 000 unemployed graduates in 2018 through the Nation Builders Corps initiative.<\/p>\n The programme was announced as a government initiative in the 2018 budget to\u00a0provide the jobs<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0at a cost of GHc 600 million.<\/p>\n The focus of the initiative is to improve public service delivery in health, education, agriculture, sanitation and also drive revenue mobilization and collection.<\/p>\n