Job Creation and Decent Work in Oyo State Nigeria ()
ABSTRACT
Employment generation is the single most-critical
economic challenge facing the world today. Job creation is on the agenda of
many governments and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) emphasises productive
employment and decent work for all.1 The critical question to
ask is: How decent are the jobs created through Social Investment Program (SIP)
in addressing graduate unemployment in Nigeria? It is against this backdrop
that this study sets out to examine how jobs created through the N-Power
programme in Oyo State promote decent work. Primary data, using a structured
questionnaire and focused group discussions were used to address the questions
based on the four dimensions of decent work furnished by the International
Labour Organisation (ILO). The study adopted a multi-stage random sampling
technique and administered 376 questionnaires to N-Power program beneficiaries;
this was supported by two-focused group discussion. Descriptive statistics and
content analysis were used to analyse the data generated. Results show that the
SIPs addressed the issue of unemployment but the job cannot be termed decent
because of lack of job security, right of work and social dialogue. The study,
therefore, recommends that the conditions of engaging graduates should be
reviewed in terms of salary structure and period of engagement. There could be
the inclusion of some basic rights at work during their engagement and the
tenure should be increased from two to three years with the option of engaging
some of the beneficiaries as full-term staff at the Federal and State level
based on specific criteria that the beneficiaries will meet. Start-up capital/quality
equipment should be given to those who prefer to be on their own as a young
entrepreneur.
Share and Cite:
Okuwa, O. (2020) Job Creation and Decent Work in Oyo State Nigeria.
Modern Economy,
11, 1752-1770. doi:
10.4236/me.2020.1111120.