Akwa Ibom state government has described the recent statistics released by Labour Force Statistics and National Bureau of Statistics which rated the state as one the states with the highest unemployment and underemployment rate in the country as voodoo statistics.
The government in the statement signed by Mr Charles Udoh, Commissioner for Information & Strategy, said the NBS contradicted itself by saying that between third quarter, 2017 and third quarter of 2018, only Akwa Ibom and eight other states “recorded a reduction in their unemployment rates despite an increase in the national unemployment rates.” This finding contradicts the main conclusion of the NBS and renders the exercise spurious and utterly confounding.
The statement reads in parts: “we would have ignored these logically confounding findings since the facts on ground do not support such wild conclusions but for the larger reading public who may be persuaded to believe the decidedly skewed Report we wish to state that this report is false and misleading.
“If we are to apply the appropriate analysis here, the report of the National Bureau of Statistics on the unemployment rate in Akwa Ibom State is nothing but “voodoo “statistics.”
“Akwa Ibom State under the focussed and pragmatic leadership of Governor Udom Emmanuel has tackled unemployment and under-employment with messianic zeal. The central plank of his first term in office was the need to rapidly industrialize the State and create employment opportunities for our teeming youths.
“So far, this policy has been achieved leading to the establishment of 16 industries that have employed thousands of our youths.”
