A CRITICAL ASSESSMENT OF THE SCOURGE OF UNEMPLOYMENT IN NIGERIA

Anselm Jimoh
There are many unpleasant issues with our country Nigeria, these range from armed insurgency
typified by the Boko Haram nefarious activities in the Northeast to the moral decadence that has
characterized our institutions of learning and enveloped the society at large. Central to these
negative and socially threatening behaviourial patterns is the high rate of unemployment in the
country. With almost 180 million citizens, half of which are youths individuals between the age
bracket of 15 and 34 years, (Akande, 2014), who should constitute the larger portion of the
labour force, reports show that over 5.3 million youths are unemployed, with an estimated 1.8
million annual growth of fresh unemployed graduates. (The Sun, April 9, 2014). According to the
Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the
unemployment figure has been accumulating over the years, it did not start this year, neither did
it start last year. The nations inability to track the number of people coming into the labour
market is a part of the problem of managing the new entrants into the market. (ibid.)
The unemployment problem in the country is partly due to the governments inability to design
policies that will not only create jobs for the employable, but also, and very importantly, provide
enabling environment for growth and expansion in the private sector. The latter will see to the
establishment of small scale businesses that will employ and mop up a number of the
unemployed from the labour market. Although, the present Government of Nigeria said it created
1.6 million jobs in 2013 there are no visible signs that, given the claim to be true, the statistics of
the unemployed has dropped in any way. (ibid.). As currently as last year, statistics from the
World Bank shows that about 100 million Nigerians still live in destitution and reports from the
same source this year, rates Nigeria as one of the five poorest countries in the world. (ibid.).
The situation of unemployment in Nigeria is worrisome. It is both an economic and social
problem. Economically, it reduces the purchasing power of the citizens, which invariably leads to
less consumption. Less consumption leads to a lower rate of production, which clogs the wheel
of economic growth. Socially, it increases the rate of crime. Unemployment breeds restiveness
among the youths who, in the face of nothing to responsibly engage them take to whatever keeps
them busy, in most cases, criminal activities. These include: armed robbery, kidnapping, ritual
killings, cyber-crimes, prostitution, etc. which are daily occurrences in our society today.
The foregoing does not portray good news for the future of our country. It rather indicates a need
for some pragmatic action to forestall a total collapse of the Nigerian nation. This action would
necessarily involve all and sundry, the government, the private sector, and individual. There is
need to address the imbroglio from its root. Is it the case that the mass of the unemployed are not
employable or they are employable but no jobs for them? If the former is the case, why are they
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unemployable; lack of skills, lack of education, physical disabilities, etc? It is definitely not the
case that they are not employable. The case is that there are no jobs available for them.
Jobs are not available because the situation over the years in Nigeria has led to the break down in
the general affairs of the nation. The civil war, prolonged military rule, institutionalized and
sustained level of corruption, especially in the public service sector, and mismanagement of
abundant natural, mineral and human resources have combined to run the nation aground,
hindering the economic growth of the nation. (Atufe, Okojie, Echenim, Ogunmola, & Bello,
2014).
Nigeria is endowed with natural resources in terms of agriculture, crude oil, and natural minerals.
However, the corruption that has plagued and riddled the ranks of the civil service as well as the
private sector has seen to the neglect of agriculture, colonization of the oil industry by a few
mega rich individuals and inattention to the possibilities of the yet to be fully tapped wealth of
the natural minerals littered in industrial quantities across the breath of the nation. Thus, rather
than opening up opportunities for job creation through wise and guided exploitation of these
resources, the doors are getting closed one after the other. The resources are not effectively
utilized to maximize their economic benefits. All attention seem directed at the oil industrial,
which unfortunately is colonized by a few very powerful and mega wealthy individuals.
Therefore, employment in this industrial is nepoticized.
Since the democratic dispensation of the present republic, politics has gained unimaginable
patronage. It has become an easy source of employment as within the corrupt system that
arguably defines the Nigerian government, it creates easy wealth for the politicians. The veiled
fact is that, many viable and ably endowed persons who could have thrived in the private sector
and thereby create job opportunities have abandoned their craft, art, and professions for politics.
The implication of this, is that the pockets of employment they would have created in their
various practices and businesses are sealed. For instance, medical doctors who could have
opened hospitals and clinics abandon their medical practice for politics, thus, all grades of
potential medical employees who would have benefited from their practice are out there in the
labour market.
The lack of basic amenities, especially regular power supply, renders the efforts of well-meaning
prospective job creators in the private sector ineffective. The cost of floating small scale
businesses and industries that would have created employment opportunities for the unemployed
is exorbitant when you have to generate your own power in terms of electricity. The insecure
climate occasioned by the wave of armed robbery, kidnapping, communal and cult-related
clashes, and terrorist insurgency scares away prospective investors within the country.
Consequently businesses and industries crumble, the workforces are downsized and eventually
such businesses and industries fold-up. The ranks of the unemployed swell as those who were
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hitherto employed loss their jobs and the doors are shut for those who could have been
employed.
Grim as the situation sounds, there can be a turn around. According to the Minister of Industry,
Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga, if we create a minimum of 1.8 million jobs annually,
the rate of unemployment in the country will be kept at 33 percent. (ibid.). This is a theoretical
calculation; how do we bring this about? In other words, how do we translate this theoretical
estimate into praxis? Aganga proposes that the citizens of the country patronize existing
companies as well as establish new ones. This is a call for patriotism, which Babatunde Fashola,
the impressive governor of Lagos State seem to support when he called for a complete
overhauling of the curriculum in our universities in the light of the current national reality of
massive unemployment.
Fasholas thinking is that the present curriculum in our universities was designed by our colonial
masters to advance their own economic gains by setting up trade businesses controlled by royal
charters in their own territories. (cf. ibid.). Invariably, Fashola is calling for a change in the
mindsets of our youths facilitated by the training received in the universities. The change is to
jettison the attractions to white collar jobs and redirect such attractions to vocational and skilloriented jobs, which will not only bring about self-employment but also create employment for
others. Fashola cited the fact that no Nigerian university is offering any course in transport
planning and management, even though, this is a prime issue and problem in Africa as a whole.
The implication of this is that, most of the giant construction companies in the country are owned
by foreigners. (ibid.).
Comrade Issa Aremu, the vice president of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), calls on the
Nigerian government to revive the factories that have closed down and seek substitutes for mass
goods and services that are currently imported into the country. Comrade Bala Bobboi Kaigama,
the president of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), counsels the government of the nation to give
a human face to the privatizations going on in the country. The present way the privatization
policy is going brings about cut in jobs and worsens the unemployment imbroglio. According to
him, provision of electricity and the rehabilitation of roads will boost the agricultural sector and
create more jobs. Peter Esele, the former president of the Trade Union Congress asks for
consistency and a sense of direction in the governance of the country. He suggests that the
government totally overhauls the educational system, identify the areas of lack within the
country and do what is needed to be done.
Eseles position is a call for a stronger will power to do what is right for the nation instead of
playing politics with it as is the current practice among our political leaders. In the same vein,
Osobu Alexander courageously calls on the president of Nigeria to garner the political will to
fight corruption. He insists that changing the current mono-cultural economy of the country by
economically diversifying, fixing the epileptic and erratic power supply, increasing the capital
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expenditure in our national budget, while drastically cutting down on recurrent expenditure,
especially the amounts spent on government officials, will see to meaningful development,
which would in turn open up job opportunities. Identifying education as the basis of any strong
economy, he recommends strongly that the shambled educational system of the country be
revitalized and made ICT based. (Osobu, 2014).
In addition to all said above, some other experts have suggested that the following ways could
help curb the unemployment problem in Nigeria: (i) Opening up sports schools, like football
academies and other sports clubs that could train kids to become professional sports men and
women. (ii) Setting up computer training schools and clubs that specialize in teaching
programming softwares like Java, Oracle, digital photography and video editing. (iii) Setting up
language schools where people can learn foreign languages to equip them for future language
related jobs. (iv) Setting up provisional work agencies that provide temporal staff for mini
companies. (cf. Economy Watch, 2010).
The one point that is clear from the above expos is that our country Nigeria is faced with the
serious problem of unemployment. The rate of unemployment increases annually and the causes
for this unpleasant situation are rooted in the failure of the government of the nation to provide
and ensure the enabling environment for job creation. The one directional focus of the economy,
the widespread corruption, the messy educational system, coupled with perhaps, a currently
misleading curriculum in the academia, are all part of the causes of unemployment. The good
news however, is that the current situation can be turned around if the appropriate measures are
taken. These measures, more than any other thing, require the political will-power to tackle
corruption and its myriad strands. Nigeria can work and should be made to work.
References
Akande Tunji, (2014), Youth Unemployment in Nigeria: A Situation Analysis,
www.brookings.edu/blogs/africa-in-focus/post/2014/09/23-youth-unemployment-innigeria-akande 20/11/2014.
Atufe Friday, Okojie George, Echenim Samson, Ogunmola Taiwo, and Bello Olushola, (2014),
Tackling
Unemployment
in
Nigeria
in
Leadership,
www.leadership.nig/business/379110. 20/11/2014
Osobu S. Alexander, (2014), Unemployment in Nigeria: A Factor for Revolution! in Sahara
Reporters, www.saharareporters.com/2014/03/25. 20/11/2014
Nigeria Unemployment (2010), in Economy Watch,
www.economywatch.com/unemployment/countries/nigeria.html. 20/11/2014.
Nigerias Grim Unemployment Statistics (2014), in The Sunnewsonline,
www.sunonline.com/new/?p=59179. 20/11/2014.
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