THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN JOB CREATION AND EMPLOYMENT

Some analysts and public commentators confuse job creation with employment. Government officials, especially, those charged with the responsibility of taking care of the country's teeming workforce most times bandy the wrong statistics for political purposes. However, there is a big difference between creating jobs and employing people into already existing jobs.

Job creation simply means, by my own understanding, creating jobs where it never existed. One of the major rating factors for American government officials is about how many new jobs the government has created. Job creation is majorly the duty of government. Government creates jobs not by building new industries by itself as a government, but by giving incentives to private investors, so that they can build new industries, thereby creating openings for new people to be employed into its organization. The government can also give tax holidays or reduction in certain levies in order to open up new funds for private businesses to be able to employ more hands into their organizations, thereby reducing the number of unemployed people in the country.

Employment, which is mostly what Nigerian governments at all levels mistake for job creation is mostly about employing people into already existing offices and organizations. This employment can come about as a result of the death of people who were occupying those positions, retirement and resignation of those occupying such vacancies, previously. In any of such cases, government does not deserve any form of special accolades, because the vacancies did not occur as a result of any special intervention by the incumbent administration.

Is it possible for government to create new jobs in the public service? Yes. Government can create new jobs in the public service by creating new agencies that are useful to the ordinary citizens of the country. It can also decide to expand the staff strength of existing government agencies and parastatals in order to make such agencies more effective and useful to the people. To achieve this, the government will need to recruit specialized workforce, which may not necessarily be drawn from among the unemployed in the population, but may require that those who were already employed elsewhere are brought in to the new offices in order to help tackle new challenges expected to be tackled by the newly expanded workforce.

An effective government should be rated by its deliberate efforts in creating new jobs for its citizens, rather than the absorption of few new hands into already existing job openings. Nigeria produces thousands of new job seekers everyday, but hardly are there efforts at every level of government to create new jobs that will absorb these young men and women who will sooner or later become breadwinners in their families. The dearth of job opportunities for Nigeria's teeming population of mostly youthful job seekers is a major factor contributing to the several cases of civil unrest, armed robbery, kidnapping and other incidents of violence crime that have almost become second identity to Nigeria. Nigerian leaders and aspiring leaders must be rated not based on how many recommendations they are ready to make for job seekers to get appointed in some government agencies, but on how prepared they are to pursue policies that will ensure that new jobs are made available for as many citizens of the country as possible.

Some of the ways these new jobs can be created is by supporting start-up initiatives by citizens, empowering talented entrepreneurs to set up their own companies, providing low or even free interest loans for those who possess good ideas to be able to own their own companies and employ people to run them. With the rate Nigeria's population is growing, we can no longer continue to play politics with the issue of job creation, we cannot continue to dish out the wrong statistics on jobs created and not created, because among all the crises Nigeria is facing, the crisis that will come from the unavailability of jobs will be more dire than anything Africa has seen in the past 1000 years. We can afford to pay lip service to infrastructure, but we cannot afford to pay lip service to job creation, education, and skilled training for our teeming population.

As much as I would have wished not to make this article have any praise-singing tilt for any politician, it will be impossible to talk about political office holders in present day Nigeria, who have done well in creating new jobs for the population without mentioning the Imo State governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha who has made concerted efforts to empower thousands of new millionaires through the creation of new economic opportunities, and also providing those with good business ideas with the necessary funding and loans to kick-start their ventures. One of the ways the governor has created new jobs, and in effect new millionaires is through his deliberate effort to award contracts to local contractors instead of the mostly expatriate companies. While it is regrettable that some of these local construction companies fail to deliver quality jobs, it cannot be taken for granted that thousands of local artisans and young men who would have constituted some form of nuisance in the society have made millions of Naira by participating directly in the many construction works going on across the State.

President Goodluck Jonathan can also be credited with creating new jobs. Like the Imo State governor, President Goodluck Jonathan established twelve new universities during his time in power. These twelve new universities couldn't have generated anything less than 100,000 new jobs that were not in existence before they were established. Imo State governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha also set up new tertiary institutions in the State, while also expanding the ones he met. New campuses have been set up for Imo State university and the Imo State Polytechnic. This truly is what should be regarded as job creation, as different from employment. Governor Rochas has also created new jobs by investing concertedly in the development of Imo's hospitality and tourism sector. In years to come, especially if his successor sustains the tempo, Imo will become one of Africa's most sought after hub for tourists.

Provision of basic infrastructure, urbanization, upholding of law and order and improvement in the security and safety infrastructures also go a long way in helping any government create new jobs for its citizens, as these will bolster the confidence of foreign investors to look the way of your country to ply their investments.

LET THERE BE JOBS!

Great Piece. and from your assertions the Gov. Of Delta State has created Jobs. from the YAGEP/STEP etc program. Kudos your Excellency