The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has put the unemployment rate in Akwa Ibom at 45.2 per cent, ranking it as the state with the second highest unemployment rate in the country.
It follows Imo State which the NBS said has the highest unemployment rate at 48.7 per cent.
Meanwhile, the Akwa Ibom State Government has disagreed with the NBS, saying the reality on ground in the state was in contradistinction to the Bureau’s report.
In the NBS’ ‘Labor Force Statistics: Unemployment and Underemployment Report’ released on Friday, Rivers State (43.7 per cent) occupies the third position in the country.
However, the Bureau said Anambra State has the lowest unemployment rate in the country at 17 per cent.
So far, the bureau said Nigeria’s unemployment rate has risen to 27 per cent in the second quarter of 2020, against 23.1 per cent reported in the third quarter of 2018.
According to it, “For the period under review, Q2 2020, the unemployment rate among young people (15-34 years) was 34.9 per cent, up from 29.7 per cent, while the rate of underemployment for the same age group rose to 28.2 per cent from 25.7 per cent in Q3 2018. These rates were the highest when compared to other age groupings.”
The NBS noted that the number of persons in the economically active age (15 – 64 years), jumped from 115,492,969 in Q3 2018 to 116,871,186 in Q2 2020.
“The number of persons in the labour force (i.e. people within ages 15 -64, who are able and willing to work) was estimated to be 80,291,894,” it added.
This was 11.3 per cent less than the number of persons in Q3 2018.
“Of this number, those within the age bracket of 25-34 were highest, with 23,328,460 or 29.1 per cent of the labour force,” it further stated.
The report further indicated that the number of employed people in Q2 2020 slumped by 15.8 per cent to 58,527,276 when placed side by side with that of Q3 2018.
“Of this number, 35,585,274 were full-time employed (i.e. worked 40+ hours per week), while 22,942,003 were underemployed (i.e. working between 20-29 hours per week).
“For underemployment, the state which recorded the highest rate was Zamfara with 43.7 per cent, while Anambra State recorded the lowest underemployment rate, with 17 per cent in Q2 2020.
“Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 2,736,076 did not do any work in the last seven days preceding the survey due to the lockdown but had secure jobs to return to after the lockdown,” the NBS stated.
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In a statement issued on Saturday by the Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Ini Ememobong, the state government said the conclusion of the NBS regarding the rate of unemployment in the state required serious scrutiny, adding that it was ‘unbelievable.’
The commissioner said the state will engage the NBS for answers to issues such as the sample size used in the survey, the spatial spread of the sample, the population figure used to obtain the percentage recorded for the state and the quality assurance mechanisms they employ, among others.
Below is the full text of the statement by the Akwa Ibom Government:
AKSG QUESTIONS NBS STATISTICS ON UNEMPLOYMENT
The attention of Akwa Ibom State Government has been drawn to the ‘Labor 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, 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. Particularly, we will seek answers to the following questions :
1. What was the sample size used in the survey?
2. What was the spatial spread of the sample?
3. What population figure did they use to obtain the percentage recorded for Akwa Ibom ?
4. What quality assurance mechanisms did they employ?
5. What was the temporal spread of the data used in the analyses?
6. 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 influx of industries and other economic activities, purveyed by local cum foreign investors and still be the state with the second largest unemployment percentage?
The role of data in a survey is to reflect the existing reality, not to project the imaginary.
