Labour Minister Calls For Increased Funding to Boost Job Creation

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Muhammad Maigari Dingyadi, has urged for a substantial increase in the 2025 budgetary allocation to enhance the Ministry’s capacity to deliver on its core mandate of employment generation.

Speaking during the 2025 Budget Defence sessions with the House and Senate Committees on Employment, Labour, and Productivity in Abuja, Dingyadi highlighted the urgent need to renovate, reconstruct, and re-equip the Ministry’s skills development centres nationwide.

According to him, these centres are critical to creating sustainable job opportunities and driving economic growth.

He revealed that the Ministry’s current allocation of 46.08 billion would be insufficient to meet its objectives.

He stressed the need for strategic investments in skill development, which would empower individuals with sustainable livelihoods and contribute significantly to the nation’s economy.

“One of the key priorities of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda is job creation.

“To achieve this noble goal, we require special funding to revamp our skills development centres and equip them with the tools needed to produce skilled workers,” the Minister said.

He noted that while infrastructure projects in the budget could provide temporary unskilled jobs, the real solution to unemployment lies in equipping individuals with marketable skills and startup kits to establish self-sustaining businesses.

Chairman of the Senate Committee on Employment, Labour, and Productivity, Senator Diket Plang, and Chairman of the House Committee, Hon. Adefarati Adegboyega, echoed the Minister’s call for increased funding.

They acknowledged the importance of skill development in addressing unemployment and emphasized the need to prioritize sustainable employment programmes over temporary interventions.

Hon. Adegboyega remarked, “Sustainable skill development programmes offer a permanent solution to unemployment, unlike short-term palliatives that provide only temporary relief.”

The Ministry of Labour and Employment remains committed to delivering on its mandate of empowering the Nigerian workforce and driving the nation’s economic growth through skill acquisition and employment generation.