The Bank of Industry (BoI) has stated that the present unemployment figures by the Federal Government are artificial as jobs can be created when the value-chain of most commodities are developed.

According to the bank, there are jobs for the teeming unemployed youths in the country, if value-addition of various commodities is properly exploited and encouraged through a gradual shift from exportation of raw materials.

Specifically, the bank noted that the nation cannot benchmark its spending on earnings from crude oil, a commodity for which it has no power to control its prices.

Indeed, the Development Finance Institution (DFI) noted that Nigeria must add value to its natural resource endowments, stating that the 774 local government areas in the country have natural resource endowments to be exploited.

BoI’s Acting Managing Director, Waheed Olagunju during a media parley tagged “Sustaining Nigeria’s Industrial Sector Growth through Impactful Partnerships”, said the major difference between the rich and poor nations of the world is their level of industrialisation, saying that industrialisation is a multidisciplinary process where everybody has a role to play to achieve industrialisation.

He explained that the multiplier effect of investment in the agricultural sector remains one of the highest, adding that most of the raw materials used in the manufacturing sector are sourced from agric value-chain.

“Nigeria must add value to its natural resource endowments. I want to say here that the huge unemployment rate in Nigeria is artificial. If we start adding value to our natural resources, we will not have enough manpower to operate in the Nigerian economy. The 774 local government areas have natural resource endowments lying fallow. If we start adding value to them, we would stimulate primary production and processing, meet our local needs and even export. We will not be depending on oil prices which we have no control.

“We need to propagate commodity-based industrialisation. We need to advocate it a lot. The present administration has also adopted the Nigerian Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP) and NEDEP to boost commodity-based industrialisation strategy by adding value to our natural resource endowments across the country. Unless Nigeria gets it right, Africa cannot make it. Every country is looking to Nigeria for Africa to make it and we must not disappoint ourselves, we must not disappoint Africa and we must not disappoint the black race.”

“We do not need rocket science to transform our economy. Other oil producing countries have diversified their economies. There is need to increase the contribution of the manufacturing sector to our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to double digits. The only way we can achieve inclusive growth is if we embark on commodity-based industrialisation strategy.”

He said BoI is also collaborating with developmental partners while encouraging State governments to establish industrial parks to localise industrialisation in order to reduce the start and operating expenses for entrepreneurs.