The World Bank has urged Bola Tinubu to prioritise job creation for Nigeria’s youth, citing it as the most pressing need to address the country’s growing economic challenges.
The World Bank’s Country Director for Nigeria, Ndiame Diop, gave the advice in the wake of critical reforms made by the Bola Tinubu’s administration, which had thrown the country into skyrocketing inflation and increase in costs of living.
Tinubu in May 2023 declared an end to fuel subsidies, a move that has increased prices of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) from N175 per litre to officially N1,025 per lire in Lagos state at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) stations.
Following the development, the world’s apex bank in its Nigeria Development Update Report, titled “Staying the Course: Progress Amid Pressing Challenges,” said going forward, it is most crucial for the government to provide jobs for its citizens, youths especially, to help them cope with the hardship.
“Nigeria took the bold and courageous move to undertake difficult but critical reforms. This against the backdrop of an already fragile economic position, high food and transport inflation, and other heightened uncertainties. If these reforms were not done, Nigeria would have fallen into a serious fiscal crisis that would have made it difficult for government to meet its obligations to citizens.
“It will be important to consolidate the improving fiscal outlook and scale up the support for the poorest households to cope with purchasing power losses and hardships, while expanding opportunities for growth and productive jobs, especially for young Nigerians is most urgent and crucial”.
It also advised to continuously reaffirm the commitment to exchange rate flexibility by adopting a comprehensive, systematic, and transparent framework for foreign exchange interventions.
