Upwards of 1.2 million Nigerians join the job market each year, the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has disclosed.

“We created 1.6m jobs (last year) as confirmed by the National Bureau of Statistics. But these are not enough. Every year 1.8m new entrants come into the job market. This is in addition to 5.3m that have accumulated over time,” Okonjo-Iweala said yesterday in Abuja while declaring open the maiden Stakeholders Implementation Summit on Enabling Broader Access to Housing Finance for All Nigerians.

She stressed the determination of the Goodluck Jonathan administration to generate more employment opportunities, saying: “The best way to honour the memory of the youths who died during the Immigration (recruitment) exercise is for us to work harder to create more jobs. So we need to work harder and faster to create more jobs for our youths.”

The minister said the administration decided to focus on housing “because this sector can significantly increase the number of jobs in addition to growing the economy. This sector will create jobs for builders, carpenters, plumbers, managers, interior decorators.... so many jobs.”

Designed to build on the momentum generated by the historic launch of the Nigerian mortgage finance and mass housing plan by President Jonathan, the summit brought key stakeholders in the Nigerian housing finance sector to Transcorp Hilton Hotel, where they brainstormed on the best ways to meet the targets.

Participants were drawn from the federal and state governments, relevant ministries, the Central Bank of Nigeria, mortgage and commercial banks, construction companies, architects, artisans, and real estate developers, among others.

•Photo shows a cross section of the large crowd of job seekers who attended the tragic Immigration recruitment test of March 15.