The Senate has passed a bill seeking the establishment of a National Internship and Unemployment Benefit Scheme. The bill was considered and passed for a second reading after a presentation by its sponsor, Senator Shuaib Salisu (APC, Ogun Central), who explained that the piece of legislation, aims to offer unemployed graduates in Nigeria some part-time jobs where they could gain experience and earn stipends.
Senator Salisu added that the bill intends to create a database of unemployed Nigerian youths, particularly graduates, with their respective disciplines and also establish a framework that will guide the provision of part-time jobs for youths while they search for full-time jobs. He argued that the scheme would help address insecurity and criminal activities that arose from unemployment.
After passage for a second reading, the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, mandated the Senate Committee on Labour and Productivity to give it more legislative inputs and report back within four weeks.