By Austin Odo & Anas A. Galadima

The country has not been able to meet up with the challenge of creating enough jobs to meet demand, he said.

Speaking before the commissioning of the World Bank/Arewa House Public Information System in Kadu-na yesterday, Mr. Ghanem said the poor state of basic infrastructures and poor business environment, amongst others, have over the years, contributed to the current state of the economy and unemployment in particular.

He said that the new job seekers come from schools, colleges and universities all over the country and does not include the long term unemployed.

According to statistics published by the Central Intelligence Agency in the United States, 2.9 per cent of Nigeria’s labour force are unemployed. The CIA registered the labour force to be 57.21 million people in 2005. But some economists say this figure is unreliable because of the number of people employed in the informal sector. The overall population of Nigeria is estimated at about 140 million people.

An official at the Ministry of Labour Mr. Okpara, said he cannot supply any figures until later today (Wednes-day), and cannot comment on the World Bank’s announce-ment.

Mr. Ghanem however said that the on-going economic reforms programme in the country is addressing some of the problems, pointing out that a sustained and effective reform has the potential to make Nigeria the most vibrant economy in Africa.

Mr. Ghanem who presen-ted a paper titled “Nigeria: An Economy on the Move,” said infrastructure deficit has prevented the country from achieving its potentials, pointing out that more than 50 per cent of the country’s roads are in bad shape. This, he said, results in high cost of transporting goods and raw materials across the country.
“More than 50 percent of federal roads are in poor condition. Taking a 20 ton truck from Maiduguri to Lagos costs N320,000, more than the sea freight to Europe,” he observed, saying that power output in the country is only 3,000 MW when demand is 10,000 MW adding that the average cost to an enterprise to power its activities is estimated at more than N50, 000 each year.

Speaking on the business climate in the country, Mr. Ghanem said importers still find it very difficult to clear goods at the nation’s ports, pointing out that “Lagos port is the most expensive in the West African region with long delays of up to 21 days to clear customs.

He said although taxation is not high, the process involved is very complex and involves corruption. He said a survey carried out a few years ago showed that most businesses operating in the country have had to offer bribes in one way or the other in order to do business.

He however noted that despite these set backs, Nigeria’s economy is on the move and that the reforms have started yielding positive results. “Nigeria is the largest and potentially the richest country in Afric. Nigerians are dealing with their economic problems and legacy of the past and “the results are very encouraging and augurs well for the future of Nigeria as well as that of the whole region,” he concluded.

Also speaking at the same occasion, Governor Ahmed Muhammed Makarfi of Kaduna state, said the reforms are needed in every aspect of life in the country.

He said attitudinal reforms were very important in the northern parts of the country, stressing that it is wrong for Nigerians, especially norther-ners, to always troop to government offices all in a bid to make requests from public officials.

“The further south you go, the less people you see trooping to Government Houses to make requests. And the further north you go, the more people you see trooping to Government House. Why can’t people get themselves engaged in pro-ductive activities instead of running from one public office to the other.”

The Vice Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Prof Shehu Usman Abdullahi, commended the bank for funding the project, even as he requested the bank to kindly upgrade the Arewa House library to a virtual library.