Former General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), John Ejoha Odah, has urged the Federal Government to develop a comprehensive employment strategy that provides jobs for young Nigerians before they graduate from educational institutions.

Odah said the government must adopt proactive employment planning by projecting the number of graduates expected to enter the labour market annually and making adequate arrangements to absorb them.

He made the call during an appearance on NTA’s Good Morning Nigeria on Wednesday, where he blamed the country’s persistent unemployment challenge on the failure of successive administrations to sustain national development plans.

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According to him, Nigeria’s political leadership has abandoned young people to their fate by failing to implement deliberate policies that create employment opportunities.

“The fundamental problem that we have in this country is the fact that our ruling elite have abandoned the Nigerian youth to their fate,” Odah said.

He explained that Nigeria previously operated five-year national development plans, which enabled the government to anticipate future employment needs and make arrangements for young people expected to graduate within two to five years.

The former NLC leader traced the worsening unemployment situation to the abandonment of national development plans between the late 1970s and 1985.

He also recalled the establishment of the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), explaining that the agency was created as a stopgap measure to provide employment and self-employment opportunities for young Nigerians.

Odah, however, stressed that the NDE was never intended to serve as the country’s primary driver of employment.

“What we need is a comprehensive employment scheme based on development programmes and industries,” he said.

He further disclosed that during his time in the labour movement, efforts were made to establish a national job summit involving the Ministry of Labour, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and other government institutions.

According to him, the initiative produced an employment plan presented to the National Executive Council, targeting the creation of at least four million jobs within four years across the federal, state and local governments.

Odah said the proposal was developed around 2005 but was abandoned after the administration under which it was initiated left office.

He expressed concern that Nigeria has yet to establish a coherent employment strategy capable of addressing the needs of young people entering the labour market.

The former labour leader warned that failure to address youth unemployment could further encourage social challenges, including irregular migration, as Nigerians continue to seek better opportunities abroad.

The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has highlighted improvements in Nigeria’s economic performance under President Bola Tinubu, saying the administration deserves credit for bringing the country back from the brink of economic collapse.

Sanusi made the remarks at the Oxford Global Think Tank conference, where he assessed the impact of the Tinubu administration’s economic reforms and acknowledged progress in key economic indicators.

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The former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) pointed to the country’s 4.48 per cent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in the second quarter of 2026, describing it as an improvement compared with the economic performance recorded during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

According to him, Nigeria’s economy grew by approximately 0.9 per cent during the Buhari years, while the latest growth figures indicate a stronger economic performance.

Sanusi also highlighted the decline in inflation, saying it had dropped from 30 per cent to 14.6 per cent, with projections indicating a possible reduction to 12.5 per cent by the end of 2026.

He further disclosed that Nigeria’s GDP per capita, measured in dollar terms, had increased by 47 per cent since 2023.

The Emir said sustaining the current growth trajectory could return the country’s GDP per capita to its 2005 level by the end of 2027.

“If we continue at this rate, by the end of next year, GDP per capita will be back to where it was in 2005,” he said.

On the country’s external reserves, Sanusi disclosed that they had reached $55 billion, although he cautioned that a significant portion of the inflows was driven by foreign portfolio investments, which he described as volatile.

He attributed some of the investor interest to high oil prices linked to the conflict around the Strait of Hormuz, alongside the attractive returns available in Nigeria’s financial market.

Sanusi also identified the Dangote Refinery as part of the country’s growing economic diversification, claiming that 20 per cent of Nigeria’s exports were coming from the facility.

According to him, the developments suggest that the country is laying the foundations for economic stability, although more work remains to be done.

“I’m not a fan of politicians, but we need to give credit to President Tinubu’s administration for bringing us back from the brink,” Sanusi stated.

He stressed that the progress recorded should be recognised as an initial step towards stability rather than an indication that Nigeria’s economic challenges have been fully resolved.

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has disbursed a total of ₦375.28 billion to support students across Nigeria, with more than 1.67 million beneficiaries recorded since the commencement of its student loan programme in May 2024.

According to the Fund’s latest Student Loan Disbursement Report, generated on November 4, 2026, a total of 2,372,319 applications have been received since the launch of the programme on May 24, 2024.

The report showed that ₦194.77 billion had been paid directly to 320 beneficiary institutions to cover students’ institutional fees.

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It also disclosed that ₦180.51 billion had been disbursed as upkeep allowances to students, bringing the cumulative loan disbursement to ₦375,282,425,723.25.

NELFUND further recorded 11,451 applications on November 3, 2026, contributing to the cumulative figure of more than 2.37 million applications received since the programme began.

The latest figures represent an increase in the number of beneficiaries and participating institutions under the Federal Government’s student loan initiative.

The programme, introduced under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, is designed to improve access to higher education by providing financial assistance to eligible students facing difficulties paying their academic fees.

Under the arrangement, approved institutional fees are paid directly to students’ respective institutions, while beneficiaries also receive upkeep allowances to support their living expenses.