Construction Costs Soar, 41,000 Jobs Lost — FCI

The Federal Government has been urged to urgently address the rising cost of construction materials and delays in the release of funds for infrastructural projects across the country.

The President of the Federation of Construction Industry, FCI, Chief Vincent Barrah, made the call at a meeting in Abuja, where he said arbitrary termination and suspension of projects, alongside poor funding of developmental projects, had resulted in the loss of over 41,000 jobs in the construction sector.

According to him, the significant depreciation of the naira and rising prices of cement, steel, diesel and other production inputs have forced many companies to lay off workers, thereby increasing unemployment and worsening the security situation across the country.

“Situation report from our unions shows that about 1,000 workers in the senior staff category and 40,000 workers in the junior staff category lost their jobs in the last two years, which has had a multiplier effect on their families, market women and the economy at large,” he said.

Chief Barrah stressed the need for relevant agencies to address the country’s infrastructure deficit towards the realisation of the Renewed Hope Agenda of the present administration.

In his remark, the Director-General of the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association, NECA, Dr Smart Adewale, appealed to stakeholders in the construction industry to promote industrial harmony and complement the government’s efforts towards repositioning the nation’s economy.

Dr Adewale also emphasised the need for construction companies to invest in capacity building for their workers, saying this would provide the country with the manpower required to execute projects rather than relying on foreign workers where local expertise is available.

In their separate remarks, union leaders appealed to the Federal Government to always carry the federation along in its policies and programmes to enhance the welfare of Nigerian workers