The Dark cloud that looms over the future of Nigerian youths
Every year churns of graduates emerge in Nigeria. The continuity of the National Youth Service Corps of Nigeria is also threatened by this number. Schools are having higher rates of application. More graduates are rolling in for Master Degree programmes just to pass time while waiting for jobs. The future of Nigerian youths hangs on a balance.
The high unemployment rate which keeps rising daily presents a huge challenge to Nigerian who were raised to aspire for good education to have a happy job for a satisfying life. Little wonder the higher rate of internet fraud and other crimes committed by young people in a quest to earn a living. Recently, a friend boarded a bus in Lagos early as 6 A.M on his way to work, he was later robbed by 8 well dressed men, some on suit sitting as passengers in the same bus with him.
It will be easy to go ahead and point accusing finger on the government for the lack of creation of jobs or economic environment that encourage job creation. Leadership has been identified as the trouble with Nigeria. However, this is also coupled with a failed educational system that lacks purpose. A system not built on capacity building but rather on theory and paper performance. Yes we can talk about Industrial Training, a programme designed to teach students practical aspects of their course in training but research shows IT is not effective in Nigeria due to high unemployment. Students now finds it difficult to get placement where they can gain experience due to a crowded labour market.The high unemployment rate which keeps rising daily presents a huge challenge to Nigerian who were raised to aspire for good education to have a happy job for a satisfying life. Little wonder the higher rate of internet fraud and other crimes committed by young people in a quest to earn a living. Recently, a friend boarded a bus in Lagos early as 6 A.M on his way to work, he was later robbed by 8 well dressed men, some on suit sitting as passengers in the same bus with him.
There are no sound technical knowhow instilled in Nigerian graduates that can become an alternative to white-collar jobs when they leave school and are unable to get a job. This has resulted in churning out of millions of projects in our universities in partial fulfilment of award of one degree or another but of no economic or social importance to the society. All these projects rest in book shelves across various school departments. A degree certificate is now relegated with masters degrees invoke for these teeming unemployed youths.
According to the national bureau of statistics, 29 million Nigerians are jobless as the unemployment rate rises to 14.2 %. They further gave a definition of unemployment to cover persons (aged 1564) who during the reference period were currently available for work, actively seeking for work but were without work. A person is regarded as employed if he/she is engaged in the production of goods and services, thereby contributing to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in a legitimate manner, which is a component of the national accounts and receives any form or amount of compensation for that activity.
The breakdown of the economically active Nigerian population in the 4thQ of 2016 include;
Economically Active Population (age 15-64)
Economically active population or working age population = 108.59 million
The labour force population (Employed, underemployed and Unemployed) = 81.15 million
Employed population = 52.58 million
Underemployed population (e.g. menial jobs) = 17.03 million
Unemployed population = 11.55 million
Not in Labour force population (those that decided not to work on their own E.g. full time house wives) =27.44 million
The above staggering figure of 35% unemployment should be a source of worry to all and sundry, it means that 29 million Nigerians are totally unemployed or doing menial jobs with their certificates. The government needs to act fast and stop this looming catastrophe before it becomes uncontrollable. Priority should be placed on securing the future of Nigerian youths. A state of emergency should be declared on unemployment and on our educational system. Emphasis should be laid more on practical in our science courses. Agricultural studies should be field based courses, not classrooms. Some federal universities should be turned into pure applied research centres, this will help in bringing up of new economic ideas that will surmount the many challenges we face as a nation. More technical schools should be created and existing ones upgraded to University level. This will guarantee degree certificates with skills, expertise and creative talents and usher in youth entrepreneurs who will be self sufficient when they leave school. The government should take clue from Israeli government on how they are ble to support small scale businesses and grow them into multinational companies especially in the tech sector. Companies that produce their goods outside Nigeria and import it into the country should be forced to start producing locally. Made in Nigeria should be championed in all sectors.
The N-power programme of the government can be commended but on the long run, it will create a high population of underemployed youths which still results in unemployment.
Are you affected by the high unemplyement rate in the country? You can write to us, tell your stories and experience.