EXCLUSIVE: FG Approves N16,000 Monthly Allowance for Unemployed Nigerian Graduates

Last year, after the Senate and the House of Reps kicked out a bill seeking to enable jobless graduates in the country receive a N15,000 monthly allowance credible reports have it that the Goodluck Jonathan led Federal Government has decided to pay unemployed graduates in the country a N16,000 monthly allowance. The allowance it is understood will be paid to all regular graduates of accredited Nigerian universities till they secure a job or attain the age of 30 years.

Senator Anyim Udeh had earlier sponsored a bill entitled “An Act to provide social security

for unemployed graduates and aged in Nigeria,” and proposed a budget of N12.7 billion for the scheme.

The Senator in arguing his case had said: “The social security Bill is in compliance with section 14 of the 1999 Constitution. It is more so, because over 70 per cent of our people live below poverty level. Creating the social security scheme in which unemployed graduates and the aged will have minimum wage to live on will help tackle the problem of poverty.”

Though the bill failed to scale through reports from Presidential sources say the President has already approved the budget for the Social Scheme for Unemployed Graduates and the first payouts will commence in 2015. It is expected that the decision will be ratified next tomorrow at the weekly Executive Council Meeting and a bill sent from the Presidency to the Senate for the creation of an agency under the joint supervision of the Ministry of Youths and the Education Ministry to coordinate the vetting and payment disbursement process.

Some anonymous sources from the opposition say the President may be using this as a way to get the younger and more numerous voters to his side as countdown to 2015 begins.

Whatever may be the case the country’s millions of unemployed graduates will certainly be hoping to see this come to fruition.

To ensure the scheme starts hitch free the Ministry of Education has released guidelines on registration of Unemployed graduates to benefit from the monthly allowance