No proof for ‘12 million jobs’ in Nigeria’s rice industry, as presidential aide claimed

Claim

12 million jobs created in Nigeria’s rice production industry.

Source: Lauretta Onochie, aide to President Muhammadu Buhari (February 2019)

unproven

Verdict

Explainer: No data exists to support the claim.

• An aide to President Muhammadu Buhari said 12 million jobs had been created in Nigeria’s rice production industry.
• The country’s statistics bureau does not keep data on jobs in rice production.
• Experts said the claim was possible, but there wasn’t enough data to prove it.Rice has become a staple food in Nigeria, Africa’s most populated country, making the industry a priority for governments wanting to improve their track record.
  But were millions of jobs created in rice production during President Muhammadu Buhari’s first term, as an aide claimed?
  Lauretta Onochie, the president’s social media adviser, tweeted in February 2019 that “12 million jobs have been created in the rice production industry”.
  For this reason only, she said, Nigerians would elect Buhari “again and again and again”, suggesting the jobs were created by his government. (Note: Buhari has since been re-elected.)
  Africa Check has previously fact-checked a claim by Onochie about Buhari’s achievements in putting kids back in school and found it inaccurate.
  Does this one check out?

  Source of the data

  Africa Check has repeatedly tried to contact Onochie for the source of her data, but she is yet to respond. We will update this report if she does.
  Twitter users have also asked for her evidence of the claim.

  What is a job?

  The National Bureau of Statistics defines having a job as being in employment. An employed person is engaged in the production of goods and services, contributing to gross domestic product in a legitimate manner and receiving compensation for the activity.
  People who are willing and able to work – members of the labour force – but do not, or work fewer than 20 hours a week, are considered unemployed.
  People who work at least 20 hours but less than 40 hours a week, or work in an activity that underutilises their skills, time or educational qualifications, are categorised as underemployed.

  Half Nigeria’s workers employed in agriculture

  The bureau does not have data on employment in rice production, Leo Sanni, its statistical information officer, told Africa Check.
  It does have general data on employment in agriculture. In the third quarter of 2017, about 77.55 million Nigerians were engaged in some form of economic activity. Of these, nearly half (48.19%)were doing agricultural work, according to the 2017 third quarter labour force statistics report – the most recent.

  More than 12 million rice farmers?

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