Vice-President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has announced that on May 1 – May Day, President Akufo-Addo will launch the Nation Builders Corps (NABCO) initiative aimed at tackling graduate unemployment in the country.
The programme will operate seven modules designed to meet the nation’s pressing needs while providing jobs for the teeming youth who have received tertiary education but are struggling to find jobs.
The Vice-President indicated that the Nation Builders Corps will be national in character and hire graduates across the length and breadth of the country.
President Akufo-Addo earlier in the year indicated that his government is to establish the Nation Builders Corps to employ 100,000 young persons to assist in public sector service delivery in health, education, agriculture, sanitation and the revenue collection department of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
The programme, which will be managed by the Office of the President, will focus on alleviating shortfalls in public service delivery. The launch on May Day will see the fulfillment of another campaign promise, since the party in government rode on the back of high unemployment levels in the country to court support.
It is significant that the programme will be launched on May Day, because that is when the President traditionally interacts with Organised Labour at a forum where workers have an exclusive audience with government to point out their position.
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has on many occasions impressed upon the President to walk the talk when it comes to youth unemployment, and create jobs for them. This will be the right forum to demonstrate to workers that the President has taken youth unemployment seriously and has accordingly launched the Nation Builders’ Corp as indicated in the State of the Nation address early in the year.
Based on the rationale behind the initiative, the Nation Builders’ Corp is laudable and designed to assist public service delivery in several sectors of the economy. Graduate unemployment is a looming threat that’s growing and needs to be tackled head-on, and we believe this initiative will perform a critical role in building the country to levels we are desirous of.
We only hope that it will truly be national in nature, and not favour party youth over and above every other Ghanaian of equal qualification.
