The Enugu State government says it has created a register across the 17 local government areas of the state for its unemployed citizens for possible recruitment in various areas.

The Commissioner for Labour and Productivity, Chika Ugwuoke, disclosed this in an interview with journalists in Enugu on Tuesday.

Mr Ugwuoke said it had generated raw data of about 33,000 unemployed people, including graduates, men, women, and secondary school leavers, through the creation of the register.

He said his ministry would conduct a sensitisation programme to get more people to register.

Mr Ugwuoke said Governor Peter Mbah had plans for the youth, women, and civil servants and had sought a labour market information management database.

“It collects information across the 17 local government areas of the state; the information contains the details of people who are unemployed or self-employed and profiles them, so right now, we have a database,” he said.

Mr Ugwuoke disclosed that Mr Mbah’s administration cleared all the pensioners’ arrears in the state following the recommendations of the committee set up to investigate.

He added that some of the key issues around pension and gratuity required verification to ensure that everyone was real, stating that the verification was ongoing.

On the new minimum wage for workers, the commissioner said the government was still awaiting the report of the committee it had set up to investigate.

Mr Ugwuoke said Mr Mbah’s administration had commissioned a fashion skill acquisition centre, while other acquisition centres had been established under the governor’s sustainable development programme.

He said the centres’ aim was to build up the people’s capacity and help grow the state’s economy.

Mr Ugwuoke explained that the state government had concluded an arrangement with the Anambra Motor Manufacturing Company (ANAMMCO) to establish a skill development centre for the training of youths in the state.

He said the training would be in soft and hard skills as the memorandum of understanding (MOU) had been developed, adding that it was just waiting for the final approval.

(NAN)