Federal Gov’t Has Made Job Creation Central To Vitality Sector Reforms — Labour Minister

The Federal Authorities has declared job creation a cornerstone of Nigeria’s vitality transition plans, with the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, revealing that labour and employment methods have been formally built-in into nationwide vitality coverage.

Talking on the IEA World Fee on Folks-Centred Vitality Transitions in Brussels, Belgium, on Thursday, June 12, the Minister emphasised that Nigeria’s shift to cleaner vitality should prioritise workforce safety and inclusive progress.

“Recognising that folks have to be on the centre of the vitality transition, we’ve got embedded labour and employment methods into our nationwide vitality planning,” Onyejeocha said.

She outlined the federal government’s multi-pronged strategy, which incorporates the Presidential Initiative on Compressed Pure Gasoline (Pi-CNG) to harness Nigeria’s gasoline reserves for inexpensive, cleaner vitality whereas creating jobs.

The minister highlighted the newly permitted Nationwide Employment Coverage, which explicitly prioritises inexperienced jobs and abilities growth for girls, youth, and casual sector employees.

“Our strategy is grounded within the precept that the vitality transition should create alternative, not dislocation,” she mentioned, stressing the necessity for social safety and neighborhood engagement.

To translate coverage into motion, the federal government launched the Labour Employment and Empowerment Programme (LEEP) in April 2025. The initiative is already coaching auto-technicians in changing petrol-powered automobiles to CNG methods and equipping girls and youth with renewable vitality abilities.

“By means of LEEP, 1000’s of Nigerians are being outfitted with new abilities for the inexperienced financial system,” Onyejeocha famous, citing photo voltaic kiosk deployments and different tasks.

The minister reaffirmed Nigeria’s dedication to a “simply, inclusive, and people-centred” transition below President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

She known as for world collaboration to make sure the clear vitality shift delivers each environmental advantages and {economic} justice.

“We’re dedicated to constructing a future the place clear vitality delivers not simply sustainability, however shared prosperity and dignity of labor,” she mentioned.

She defined that the strikes place Nigeria as an rising chief in balancing vitality reforms with labour market safeguards, providing a possible mannequin for different growing nations navigating the vitality transition, noting that with LEEP’s rollout and the Pi-CNG initiative, the Federal Authorities goals to show that decarbonisation and job progress can go hand in hand.