[News] NBS new unemployment data will mislead policymakers – Former Statistician-General of the Federation, Yemi Kale faults

Reacting to Kale’s comment, Wakili Ibrahim, the head of the communications and public relations department at NBS stated that times have changed and some Nigerians now earn from working for just one hour.

 

He told Punch;

 

“The new methodology is internationally accepted. All our neighbouring countries in Africa are using the new methodology of one hour.

“The world is changing. In high-tech countries, if you work for one hour, you can earn what somebody in a bank cannot earn in one year because of IT.

“Look at lecturers, a lecturer can go lecture for one or two hours, and they will pay him about N200,000 or N300,000 in one or two hours. So, what is the basis for ignoring those ones?

“It is the dynamic world that informed ILO and NBS to adopt this method to capture these people that spend one hour. People will be left out when you use 20 hours as the minimum hour. It is not the question of NBS but the question of the changing world.”