December 29, 2009

A meeting scheduled by the presidency to deliberate on the mass layoffs in the banking industry failed to hold on Monday due to the absence of key invitees.The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday had summoned an emergency meeting with stakeholders to address the spate of sackings in the banking sector.But, the Minister of Labour, Prince Adetokunbo Kayode (SAN), told NAN at the State House, Abuja that the meeting could not hold.He said, “I came to the (Presidential) Villa because the government at the highest level is very concerned about the spate of retrenchments in the banking sector.

The government is very concerned because unemployment is one of the most serious problems facing the country and government is determined to address it.The minister added, “If you look at the proposed 2010 Appropriation and all the programmes in 2009, they are toward tackling unemployment.“The era of paying lip service to unemployment has ended. So, that is why this meeting has been called to ensure that all hands are on deck to resolve the matter.“Unfortunately, the CBN governor (Mr. Lamido Sanusi), who is the regulator of the banking sector has travelled outside the country. So, we had to reschedule the meeting for next week Tuesday.”