SAN FRANCISCO, June 09, (THEWILL) – The Federal Government on Wednesday revealed that its directive to the private sector not to disengage workers is in the interest of the companies, because those who they intend to dismiss would be needed when the economy takes shape from July.
The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma disclosed this to State House correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive Council meeting, while stating that “by the third quarter we will start seeing the impact of what we are doing to reflate the economy.”
He explained that government is advising players in the private sector not to sack workers because such retrenched staff would be needed by the companies when the economy picks up in the third quarter of the year.
According to Udoma, “With regards to the plea to the private sector not to sack workers, it is because we know that by the time the economy picks up, they will need those people again.
“We know the economy is going to pick up and we are confident about that. That is because of our plan, the plan was conceived because we knew that this was the trajectory we will move into.
“I will give you an indication of some of those things in the plan. For agriculture for instance, we plan to be self sufficient in rice within a certain number of years, in wheat within a certain number of years.
“Indeed the vice-president has just set up a task force headed by the governor of Kebbi state to realise that. So we are implementing the plan one by one,” he said, adding that there is a plan to move Nigeria up 20 places in terms of ease in doing businesses.
