By Comrade Gbenga Olowoyo fcia fimpa JP
The spate of insecurity, social vices, economic maladies and policy somersault in Nigeria have precipitated a very serious challenge in the unbridled collapse in our economic prosperity and social re-engineering.
The various maladies have brought about fear of uncertainty, hopelessness, palpable fear , instigated by kidnappings from all fronts, explosion from far and near and economic hardship staring all families in their faces.
It is very unfortunate that various events happening in Nigeria today are very scaring and life threatening; families are no more safe in their abodes, travellers are exposed to kidnappers due to porosity in the social space of our highways , attributable to high cost of living triggered by unprecedented high cost of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) which is the driving force of our social lives.
Factually, high cost of food items and virtually every other essentials are the sources of hardship in the land forcing everybody to eke for a living through many dubious means even elites are not left out with unrestricted access to Trillions of Naira, which is Nigeria Public Funds,a case in point is the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and poverty alleviation financial Saga which is still under EFCC forensic and scientific investigation.
We all must not be pretentious about the main source of our disconnect which paved way for our present predicament as a nation.
Since 1960 , shortly after our independence, Nigeria leaders have failed us , all in their projections for prosperous country due to economic bouyancy and multifarious Natural Resources that professed Nigeria as a prosperous country but badly managed by successive Administrations from 1st civilian government to several Military rules back to civilian government since 1999 to-date
We could all recall that Nigeria first commercial oil discovery in Oloibiri town in the present day Bayelsa State was discovered on January 25th 1956. Nigeria exported its first crude oil in February 1958 from Oloibiri oil field through Port Harcourt on the Bonny River, since then, Nigeria ,as a country , has lost its sustainable economy policy projection that could have made Nigeria an industrialised nations with effective infrastructural development and facilities that can aid job creation and employment opportunities.
It is unfortunate that following the recession experienced in the 1980s. The dreadful problem of unemployment was further amplified as a result of introduction of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) in 1986 by General Ibrahim Babangida regime, the rapid depreciation of the naira exchange rate and the inability of most industries to import led the country to the present economic doldrum which is still very prevalent till today.
Unemployment rate in Nigeria
Unemployment is one of the most severe social problems facing Nigeria today. It affects all members of the society, from the young to the old, and has far-reaching consequences for the economy and national security.
Unemployment occurs when people who can work cannot find a suitable paid job for a tangible period of time.
There is no doubt that the population that falls within this gap are majorly the youths.
Unfortunately, the government’s efforts, which are more or less fire brigade approach, over the years , seem to yield no fruits since the situation continues to deteriorate because there was no sustainable arrangements that can guarantee job re-creation, rather it is stop-gap approach through distribution of rice and indomie as palliatives to youths on one hand and N- power intervention money on the other which has been badly managed and poorly implemented.
The country has an unemployment rate of about 60%, which means that about one in four Nigerians is unemployed. i.e about 120 million Nigerians are jobless out of 200 million population figure.
This high unemployment rate is very debilitating, which means that many young Graduates and able bodied Nigerians in the country cannot find work.
With a population record of as high as over 200 million, Nigeria remains the most populous country in Africa. This large population means that more people are looking for work than the available ones.
Youth unemployment in Nigeria has a number of negative consequences, including a rise in militancy, violent crimes, kidnappings, restlessness, and socially irresponsible behaviour.
Again, It is no more a gainsaying that about 60% of Nigeria’s youth population is either unemployed or underemployed, a situation that poses great danger to the Nigeria Society in terms of crimes and assorted social vices. This generation of young people faces the dual crisis of unemployment and insecurity.
The recent developments in our social life call for serious brainstorming by all stakeholders in order to fashion out workable and sustainable solutions to our social problems so that the current wave of insecurity and hopelessness can be stemmed.
From the global view , “It is also estimated by (ILO) that 12.6% of youths in the global Labour force are unemployed. In Nigeria, about 53.40% of youths are unemployed according to youth unemployment rates released by the National Bureau of Statistics ”.
How to solve unemployment problems
Federal government must be ready to address and solve problem of unemployment headlong so that multidimensional problems associated with unemployment can be mitigated.
As a matter of fact, the high rate of kidnapping, insecurity and other social vices can not be divorced from the problem of unemployment; majority of Nigerian youths that have served their fatherland via National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) with good zeal are now frustrated and disappointed by successive leaders who did not provide for today’s unemployed youths and other upcoming generations
How to mitigate unemployment in Nigeria
Federal government should urgently consider the following underlisted suggestions in order to mitigate unemployment rate in Nigeria among youths and able bodied Nigerians:
- Build More Industries
One reason why unemployment is so rampant is due to lack of industries. Large industries employ thousands of youth and empower them to lead independent lives.
The government must do everything in its power to encourage establishment of industries to absorb millions of unemployed youths that are not only unproductive but are destroying the country by engaging in unlawful acts.
In addition, factors such as electricity and water supply must be made available to facilitate building of industries to help us deal with the problem of unemployment.
- Train Youths in relevant skills
Although there is shortage of industries, most youths in Nigeria are not employed because they do not possess employable skills - Empower Entrepreneurs
The importance of entrepreneurship in eradicating unemployment cannot be underestimated. There are Nigerian youths with amazing entrepreneurial dreams who have not been able to actualize those dreams for lack of funds or lack of amenities such as electricity and water.
Federal government should make available loans or grants to enable enterprising youth establish on their own, Government will not only help them to be independent but they will also empower many others by employing them to work.
This is an option the federal and state governments should try in their fight against unemployment.
- Check Corruption
Corruption is a major enemy in this country that has fought against everything that is good. It is great that the present administration takes corruption seriously but it needs to look at it from the angle of reducing unemployment. - Tackle security threats
Security threats are major contributing factor to unemployment in Nigeria. Investors are not confident about the safety of their investments and so would rather hold back.
This is even truer for potential foreign investors. Without security threats, industries will be built that will help to employ many youths and reduce the number of unemployed people flooding the streets of Nigeria today.
- Encourage Foreign Investors
Foreign investors can bring a lot to this country. Apart from revenue from taxes, they will employ people to work in their companies.
This will massively reduce unemployment and its attendant consequences on the nation’s development. It will also lead to the development of the country since youths that are hitherto unproductive become productive hen such foreigners invest in the country.
7, Federal Government should open other Sectors of the economy:
Many sectors of Nigeria’s economy have been closed for years. For instance the textile industry has been shut down with many factories in major cities of Nigeria closed.
These industry would have employed many graduates and reduced the number of unemployed youths. Other sectors like tourism have been completely neglected.
There are tourist attractions spread all over the country but they have not been developed so they do not provide employment opportunities.
If such areas are built up and used as tourist attractions, it will employ many youths and generate revenue for the government.
8, Control population
All the aforementioned factors contribute to unemployment in Nigeria but population explosion is also a key factor that has worsened the employment situation in the country.
9, Remove Ethnic and Religious Sentiments
Nigeria’s ethnic and religious diversity has been a problem findings have revealed that Employment in Nigeria today depends on who is to consider you for employment where you are coming from and your religious background.
This is a major challenge that must be overcome for the country to experience the economic growth.
Government at all levels should desist from sacking workers indiscriminately so as not to add up to the present security challenges bedevilling the country.
It is on the strength of the above that decision of Ekiti State Governor Biodun Oyebanji is commendable for the approval he gave recently for the reinstatement of (15) fifteen workers of the Ekiti State House of Assembly sacked in the year 2021 by the administration of the former Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi due to unfathomable reasons, unfortunately, one of the sacked workers died due frustration and depression.
The Federal Government should be alive to its responsibility by creating enabling environment for the industrialisation of the country and provide infrastructural developments through private sector and foreign investors synergy.
Also, Federal government should come up with sustainable development goals policies that can stand the test of time rather than personal ego policy direction, the Renewed Hope Agenda of the present administration could be legislated upon by the National Assembly and transform it into National Policy Agenda, if found worthy and thereafter make the policy run for decade as a rolling plan, just like General Yakubu Gowon Administration then, which can be pursued by any government in power.
Social research have identified the fact that everybody in power will always want to run his personal Agenda instead of National Agenda , hence, Nigerians have been experiencing policy somersault laden with corruption and personal ego.
Federal government must urgently, begin to think outside the box by considering the above mentioned suggestions and downplay focus on school feeding programme which over N100 billion have been budgeted for , rather, these children should be provided with school/reading
materials and pay for their registration fees for Public Examination of those children in certificate classes
To be forewarned is to be forearmed because the rate of unemployment in the country is a security threat on its own
Our leaders must not continue to chase shadow…
Comrade Gbenga Olowoyo fcia fimpa JP, a Trade unionist and industrial relations practitioner
08033570338
gbengaolowoyo3@gmail.com