The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has questioned the latest job report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The government bureau’s report indicated a declining unemployment rate from 5.3% in the first quarter of 2024 to 4.3% in the second quarter.
The job report indicates that macroeconomic indicators are improving, which the Labour Union disputes.
Chris Onyeka, National Assistant General Secretary of the NLC, said the statistics fly in the face of reality, calling it a “voodoo document.”
He characterized the report as a “fabrication designed to mislead the public” intended to portray President Bola Tinubu‘s administration in a good light.
“Unemployment cannot be coming down in Nigeria when factories are closing shops. It cannot be coming down when there is increasing inventory and reduced consumer spending. If anything, unemployment is increasing,” Onyeka declared.
He questioned the methodology behind the NBS report, describing it as a “figment of imagination concocted by people who want to manipulate figures.”
“Once data does not reflect reality, it loses relevance. Unfortunately, the NBS has lost credibility as a result of the data they continue spewing out,” he stated.
Onyeka challenged the NBS to substantiate its claims by identifying the sectors supposedly generating jobs. “Where are the jobs coming from? Is it from employers who are complaining of consumer resistance and slowing economic activities? It doesn’t add up,” he remarked.
He described the NBS as a “failed institution much like INEC”—the Independent National Electoral Commission, which he says often conjures up figures to mislead the nation.
Nevertheless, Onyeka did not disclose any countering figures from the unions—a body that could be expected to have its independent job figures.
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