Nigeria’s Unemployment Rate Now About 5% Under Tinubu - Aremu

Director-General of the Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS), Comrade Issa Aremu, has said Nigeria’s official unemployment rate has fallen to about five per cent under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

Speaking on Arise TV’s Morning Show, Aremu linked the figure to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), which applies the International Labour Organisation (ILO) methodology.

He described the drop from previous double-digit rates as a sign of expanding economic activity in both the public and private sectors.

“Today unemployment is about 5% officially. And that’s quite remarkable. You discover that unemployment dropped compared to what it used to be in double digits, which means there’s an increasing level of activity and employment, both in public and private sectors,” he said.

Aremu attributed part of the improvement to developments in the downstream petroleum sector, including the emergence of modular refineries that are creating jobs.

He also noted positive prospects in manufacturing, though he stressed that sustainable industrialisation depends on resolving the country’s energy challenges. “You can’t have sustainable industrialisation without electrification,” he added.

He further pointed to backward integration by industries, which are increasingly sourcing raw materials locally due to exchange-rate pressures, as another source of employment.

Sustainable job creation, he argued, must be deliberate and driven by states with clear industrial policies, welcoming the growing traction of the “Nigerian First” policy.

On pensions, Aremu praised the Federal Government for clearing N758 billion in inherited pension liabilities dating back to 2007 through an intervention bond.

The payment has reached 957,045 beneficiaries nationwide.Aremu, who also serves on the presidential campaign council, said labour issues such as secure employment, living wages and pension payments will be central to the next election.

He urged all leading candidates to present concrete scorecards on decent and secure jobs rather than promises, and credited the Tinubu administration with reforms that prioritised job retention and expansion in the public sector, in contrast to the mass retrenchments of previous eras.

He called for a “job and wage-led economic recovery” and urged organised labour to engage the government on a negotiated new minimum wage, while noting that the administration has already conducted two minimum-wage reviews in three years.