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21.76m Nigerians Unemployed In 2020, NBS Confirms

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The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says the total number of unemployed Nigerians stands at 21,764,617.
The statistics are contained in the bureau’s Labour Force Statistics website, entitled “Unemployment and Underemployment Report (Q2 2020)”, released in Abuja.
It referred to the report as an Abridged Labour Force Survey under Covid-19 for August, 2020.
The unemployment rate during the period in reference represented a 27.1 per cent rise from the 23.1 per cent recorded in the third quarter of 2018.
“A rise in unemployment generally means the number of people searching for jobs has increased which can occur because people previously outside the labour force have decided to join the labour force and are now in search of jobs.
“Or people previously working have lost their jobs, and are now in search of jobs. Often, it is a combination of these two,” the NBS said.
According to the report, the total number of people in employment during the reference period is 58,527,276.
The statistics of those employed showed a 15.8 per cent reduction in employment in the third quarter of 2020.
Of this number, 35,585,274 were full-time employed, who worked for 40 hours or more per week, while 22,942,003 were under-employed and worked between 20 to 29 hours per week.
The number of persons in the labour force, people within ages 15 to 64, able and willing to work was estimated to be 80,291,894.
The figure represented an 11.3 per cent decrease in the number of persons recorded in the third quarter of 2018.
Of this number, those within the age bracket of 25 to 34 were highest with 23,328,460, representing 29.1 per cent of the labour force.
The NBS noted that the unemployment rate among rural dwellers in the period under review increased to 28 per cent from 23.9 per cent in the third quarter of 2018.
Urban dwellers also reported a rate of 25.4 per cent up from 21.2 per cent.
In the case of underemployment among rural dwellers, it rose to 31.5 per cent in the period under review from 22.8 per cent in the third quarter of 2018.
The rate among urban dwellers also rose to 23.2 per cent from 13.7 per cent in the third quarter of 2018.
Moreover, the unemployment rate among young people, ages 15 to 34 in the second quarter of 2020 was 34.9 per cent up from 29.7 per cent in the third quarter of 2018.
Also, the rate of underemployment for the same age group rose to 28.2 per cent from 25.7 per cent.
These rates were the highest when compared to other age groupings.
For state statistics under the second quarter of 2020, Imo reported the highest rate of unemployment with 48.7 per cent, followed by Akwa Ibom and Rivers with 45.2 per cent and 43.7 per cent, respectively.
The state with the lowest rate was Anambra in the South-East with 13.1 per cent.
For underemployment, the state which recorded the highest rate was Zamfara with 43.7 per cent, while Anambra recorded the lowest underemployment rate, with 17 per cent.
A total number of 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 said the unemployment and underemployment rates varied across states according to the nature of economic activities predominant in each state.
“Favourable conditions in one state may lead to an influx of jobseekers in that state and in the process increasing unemployment in the performing state, while reducing the unemployment rate in the originating state.
“This may give a false impression that the state with the lower unemployment rate is performing better,” it said.

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FG Ends Passport Production At Multiple Centres After 62 Years

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The Nigeria Immigration Service has officially ended passport production at multiple centres, transitioning to a single, centralised system for the first time in 62 years.

Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed this yesterday while inspecting Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja.

He stated that since the establishment of NIS in 1963, Nigeria had never operated a central passport production centre, until now, marking a major reform milestone.

“The project is 100 per cent ready. Nigeria can now be more productive and efficient in delivering passport services,” Tunji-Ojo said.

He explained that old machines could only produce 250 to 300 passports daily, but the new system had a capacity of 4,500 to 5,000 passports every day.

“With this, NIS can now meet daily demands within just four to five hours of operation,” he added, describing it as a game-changer for passport processing in Nigeria.

 “We promised two-week delivery, and we’re now pushing for one week.

“Automation and optimisation are crucial for keeping this promise to Nigerians,” the minister said.

He noted that centralisation, in line with global standards, would improve uniformity and enhance the overall integrity of Nigerian travel documents worldwide.

Tunji-Ojo described the development as a step toward bringing services closer to Nigerians while driving a culture of efficiency and total passport system reform.

He said the centralised production system aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for better service delivery.

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FAAC Disburses N2.225trn For August, Highest In Nigeria

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The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has disbursed N2.225 trillion as federation revenue for the month of August 2025, the highest ever allocation to the three tiers of government and other statutory recipients.

This marks the second consecutive month that FAAC disbursements have crossed the N2 trillion mark.

The revenue, shared at the August 2025 FAAC meeting in Abuja, was buoyed by increases in oil and gas royalty, value-added tax (VAT), and common external tariff (CET) levies, according to a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting.

Out of the N2.225 trillion total distributable revenue, FAAC said N1,478.593 trillion came from statutory revenue, N672.903 billion from VAT, N32.338 billion from the Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), and N41.284 billion from Exchange Difference.

The communiqué revealed that gross federation revenue for the month stood at N3.635 trillion. From this amount, N124.839 billion was deducted as cost of collection, while N1,285.845 trillion was set aside for transfers, interventions, refunds, and savings.

From the statutory revenue of N1.478 trillion, the Federal Government received N684.462 billion, State Governments received N347.168 billion, and Local Government Councils received N267.652 billion. A further N179.311 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) went to oil-producing states as derivation revenue.

From the distributable VAT revenue of N672.903 billion, the Federal Government received N100.935 billion, the states received N336.452 billion, while the local governments got N235.516 billion.

Of the N32.338 billion shared from EMTL, the Federal Government received N4.851 billion, the States received N16.169 billion, and the Local Governments received N11.318 billion.

From the N41.284 billion exchange difference, the Federal Government received N19.799 billion, the states received N10.042 billion, and the local governments received N7.742 billion, while N3.701 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) was shared to the oil-producing states as derivation.

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KenPoly Governing Council Decries Inadequate Power Supply, Poor Infrastructure On Campus

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The Governing Council of Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, Bori, has decried the inadequate power supply and poor state of infrastructural facilities and equipment at the institution.

The Council also appealed to the government, including Non-Governmental Organisations, agencies, as well as well-meaning Rivers people to intervene to restore and sustain the laudable gesture, dreams and aspirations of the founding fathers of the polytechnic.

The Chairman of the newly inaugurated Council, Professor Friday B. Sigalo, made this appeal during a tour of facilities at the  Polytechnic, recently.

Accompanied by members of the team, Prof Sigalo emphasised the position of technology, technical and vocational education in sustainable development.

He noted that with the prospects on ground, and the programmes and activities undertaken in the polytechnic, there is no doubt that the institution would add values to the educational system in our society and foster the desired development, if the existing challenges are jointly tackled.

This was contained in a statement signed by Deputy Registrar, Public Relations, Kenpoly,  Innocent Ogbonda-Nwanwu, and made available to The Tide in Port Harcourt.

The chairman who restated the intention of his team of technocrats to ensure that KenPoly enjoys desirable face-lift, said the Council would deliver on its core mandates, accordingly.

Earlier, the Rector, KenPoly Engr. Dr. Ledum S. Gwarah, commended the appointment of Professor Friday B. Sigalo as Chairman of the KenPoly Governing Council.

He described him and his team as seasoned technocrats and expressed confidence in their ability to succeed.

The Rector pledged the management’s support to the Council to ensure that KenPoly resumes its rightful place in the comity of polytechnics in the country.

Facilities visited by the Governing Council include KenPoly workshops, laboratories, skills acquisition centre, library, hostels and medical centre.

 

Chinedu Wosu

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