Opinion
Still On Youth Unemployment In Nigeria (1)
Youth unemployment in Nigeria has become one of
the most serious socio-economic problems confronting the country. The magnitude of this problem can be appreciated if an accurate data on the number of jobless young people roaming the streets of Nigerian cities, towns and villages is available. Unfortunately, accurate statistics on youth unemployment are lacking. Nevertheless, estimates by the International Labour Organisation (ILO 1999) in Sub-Saharan Africa show that unemployment affects between 15-20 per cent of the work force, and out of these estimates, young people comprise 40 to 75 percent of the total number of the unemployed.
Unemployment has affected youths in Nigeria from a broad spectrum of socio-economic groups. Both the well and less educated are affected, but more especially those with low income backgrounds and limited education. Given the lack of employment opportunities and consequently uncertain future, young Nigerians are forced to engage in unorthodox sources of livelihood while others engage in casual work which highlights the causes of youth unemployment problem and the effectiveness of the response. It also surveys the future of Nigerian youth.
An indepth analysis of the jurisdiction of unemployment in Nigeria will reveal with crystal clarity that unemployment is a multi dimensional phenomenon that has successfully defied precise solution by successive governments. A brief insight into the historical fact will support this assertion.
According to the Central Bank of Nigeria, unemployment rate rose from 4.3 per cent in 1970 to 6.4 per cent in 1980. The increase noted in the 1980 statistics was attributed to the depression in the Nigerian economy of the late 1970s. Between this period and 1986, the rate of unemployment fluctuated around 6.0 per cent. The implementation of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) in 1986, led to a decline in unemployment rate from 7.1 per cent in 1987 to as low as 1.8 per cent in 1995. Between 1986 and 2000, it fluctuated between 3.4 per cent and 4.7 per cent.
Current information from the CIA World reveal that unemployment rate in 2003 stood at 28 per cent while a great decline was noticed in 2006 (2.9 per cent). From 2008 to this present day, the country has enjoyed a relatively stable rate of 4.9 per cent. Different facts from the National Bureau of Statistics reveal that during 2000 and 2008, the unemployment rate fluctuated between 13 per cent and 14 per cent. As at 2009, the national rate of unemployment stood at 19-17 per cent. These statistics may, however, not be definite as stakeholders have continuously reiterated that the practical reality of unemployment is higher than what statistics suggest.
Without deliberately under estimating the influence of other factors, the principal causes of unemployment are legion. Bad leadership encapsulates quite a sufficient parameter, ranging from corruption and its endemic effects, have no doubt greatly impacted positively the rate of unemployment. Many government functionaries in purporting to carry out their duties divert huge sums of money to their personal accounts; some inflate the true naira value of contracts in order to conveniently secure their own share of the national cake. In essence, resources which should be deployed towards the creation of more job opportunities for the mass unemployed are mismanaged and embezzled.
Lack of visionary leadership is also a convenient cause. The perfect example is the Nigerian experience in the agricultural sector. No sane man would doubt the innate ability of the sector to provide mass employment opportunities for the teeming Nigerian populace.
Unfortunately, and in most pathetic manner, Nigeria has in recent times not had true leaders who would bring this vision home to the people by translating it into practical reality. All they do is paper work which at the end has little or no practical utility. Successive governments in Nigeria have failed to successfully ultilise the enormous potentials wasting away in the agricultural sector.
Another fallout from the problem of bad leadership is the failure of successive governments in Nigeria to find a lasting solution to the problem of erratic power supply. The percentage of budget spending allocated for that purpose in successive years now seem unquantifiable with little or no improvement. Any attempt at showing the huge funds pumped yearly into the resuscitation of that area of the Nigerian economy will reveal that it is totally infra dig for a country like ours to be this deep down the fathomless pit of darkness. Without sounding cynical, perhaps a few of these governments have performed fairly. The consequences of the erratic power supply include the comatose state of the manufacturing sub-sector. Hundreds of factories that hitherto provided employment to graduates and artisans alike have folded up (Kudos must, however, be given to the recent efforts of the present government at bailing out the textile industry, amongst others). The few surviving ones are at the mercy of generating sets (and fuel) and the resultant high cost of production.
Masi is of the Linguistics and Communications Department of the University of Port Harcourt, Choba.
Another important cause of unemployment in Nigeria is the inefficiency and ineffectiveness of the Nigerian educational system to produce graduate possessing all- round abilities. Majority of graduates in Nigeria have not developed their own skill. All they have are the certificates – nothing more. In plain language, most of these graduates are half-baked and ill-prepared for the challenges facing the nation. They have nothing substantial to add-nly to maintain the status quo. Educational institutions have failed alarmingly to produce graudates that are designed to meet the needs (not just vacancies in terms of job opportunities) of the Nigerian economy. Most of them never desire to be independent or self-employed or at least create an item of value. Their dreams are mostly about getting juicy jobs with Shell, Total etc. Dearth of skill acquisition and ultilisation in the present crop of graduates is perhaps occasioned by a deficient curriculum. This has sometimes resulted in companies reserving vacancies for Nigerians with overseas qualifications.
Sometimes, the absence of sufficient imformation creates the status of being unemployed for some Nigerians. Admittedly, this would not always be so in the face of the numerous applications received in almost all advertised vacancies. Recession in the economy is another cause of unemployment. Recession leads to many companies winding up, restructuring, streamlining and consequently, disengaging workers.
The high rate of unemployment in Nigeria has negative social and economic implications on so many aspects of the life of an average Nigerian. First and foremost is the fact that unemployment leads to unnecessary waste of resources and less productivity. Brain drain and loss of purchasing power are also important effects of the high rate of unemployment in Nigeria. The Nigerian economy is losing some of the best brains available to other countries. Graduates with good and outstanding skills, after walking the streets looking for jobs, take on the journey for greener pastures abroad many of our youths now take to riding commercial motorcycles while others make do with street hawking to keep body and soul together. The economic cost of unemployment are not limited to be above. Unemployment leads to a gap between the actual Gross National Product (GNP) and the potential Gross National Product. This is known as the GNP gap – indicating a vast waste of resources and an inability to maximize the utility of both human and natural resources.
The social costs of unemployment in Nigeria include increased cyclical poverty. Personal hardships, decay of unused skills, depression, increase in self – desertification leading to an increase in crime rate as well as increase in the number of broken marriage.
A sad development occasioned by the rate of unemployment in Nigeria is the now common swindling of these poor job seekers. Private firms in purporting to help these poor job seekers to secure employment collect different sums of money from these applicants (such as application fee, registration fee, blue chip fee, amongst others). Most of these firms are only concerned about the money; at the end of the whole exercise, most of the applicants are still without a job. Even the public sector is not absolved from this ‘profitable’ venture. The not-too-long—ago recruitment exercise by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) reportedly raked in about 750million Naira for the Agency. The NDLEA recruitment was fraught with incomplete information (for instance, there was no information on the requirement of presentation of NYSC discharge certificate as a condition precedent to sitting for the test), which led to a waste of resources by a large percentage of these job seekers. The National Social Insurance Trust Fund is also recruiting, collecting at last a thousand Naira (1,000.00) for each applicant.
The way forward for Nigeria to successfully tackle the high rate of unemployment rests first on the shoulders of our leaders. Nigerian leaders must show more than enough commitment to the creation of jobs and most especially the creation and sustenance of an economic environment that fosters self-development and self actualization. Nigerian leaders must revisit the resuscitation of the manufacturing sector and ensure that it is exhumed from the grave where it currently lies. A Total solution to the problem of erratic power supply would be of utmost importance in this regard.
The faster government moves in that direction, the better as we have seen the concomitant effect of youth unemployment manifest itself in various forms across the country. Kidnapping armed robbery and even militancy in the Niger Delta and to some extent, the Boko Haram menace could be identified as some of the negative outcome of unemployment.
The utilized potentials in the agricultural sector must be made use of to create the desired job opportunities for the teeming unemployed Nigerians will experience a new breath of life. The educational system also needs restructuring. The various curricula in our schools should include skill acquisition course, entrepreneurship and self development programmes, deliberate efforts need to be made towards ensuring that a new enterprise culture is entrenched in the minds of our graduates and artisans alike. This will reduce the present craze for white collar jobs and reduce unemployment in Nigeria. It is then that Nigeria will be on the road to economic success.
Mabel Masi
In a calculated attempt to tarnish the reputation of Governor Siminalayi Fubara, Lere Olayinka, the self-styled Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication and Social Media to FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, stormed News Central TV with a cocktail of lies, half-truths and unfortunate distortions. This desperate smear campaign demands a bold response to expose the true mastermind behind the political turbulence rocking Rivers State. Olayinka harped on the current situation of the Rivers State House of Assembly, highlighting the presence of only three (3) active members. Yet, he conveniently glossed over the real story of Martin Amaewhule and his co-defectors who cowardly abandoned their constituencies and their mandates by defecting to the APC without due consultation. These former legislators, by law, automatically vacated their seats, but Olayinka lacks the courage to admit this truth.
When asked about Wike’s involvement in Rivers State’s political turmoil, Olayinka could not deny the undeniable. Wike is not only a major player in this crisis but also its architect. His meddlesome tendencies and attempts to control the state from Abuja have been met with stiff resistance from Rivers people who are fed-up with his overreach. Olayinka’s claim that Wike elevated Governor Fubara from “a mere cashier” to governor reeks of pettiness. It is an insult to Fubara’s track record of service and to the Rivers people who overwhelmingly voted for him. The truth is, Governor Fubara was instrumental to any success Wike claims during his time as governor, especially in financial prudence and project execution, Olayinka can challenge me to a debate if in doubt. Mr. Olayinka falsely accused Governor Fubara of disobeying President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The irony, however, is glaring. The real defiance came from those who President Tinubu called his “newborn babies,” only to disown him days later. Aside the impeachment attempt, Wike’s ill-advised push for these individuals to defect to the APC is at the root of the political mess they currently face. Olayinka’s admission that Fubara is the governor and wields the “red biro” underscores one truth: Governor Siminalayi Fubara is in Charge. While his employer may attempt to pull the strings of discord, Rivers people have declared unequivocally that the era of external interference is over. Sir Fubara is taking bold steps to restore dignity and prioritise the state’s interests. Also, Olayinka’s attempt to draw parallels between Rivers State and Kogi State only highlights his lack of understanding of Rivers politics. Rivers people are not Kogi people.
They will not accept a situation where commissioners or key appointments are dictated from only one man, as Wike attempted to do. Rivers people have spoken, and their stance is non-negotiable. Olayinka’s laughable claim that Governor Fubara is dining with those who opposed his emergence shows a lack of political depth. Almost everyone standing with Wike today—including Magnus Abe and Chidi Lloyd—at one time opposed his own governorship bid. Politics evolves and alliances shift. Governor Fubara is focused on governance, not on petty vendettas. Assuming, without conceding, that Governor Fubara did not address Rivers people during the campaign, the blame lies squarely on Wike, who perhaps never allowed him to speak. He almost succeeded in extending this overbearing tendencies into the governance of the state, but Rivers people are saying “No” to this meddlesome interference.
The glaring contradictions in Olayinka’s rhetoric can tell you why Fayose failed woefully in Ekiti State despite all his noise. Just like his principal, Olayinka has mastered the art of bluster without substance. When pressed on what Wike wants from Governor Fubara that he is not getting, Olayinka could not provide an answer. The truth is simple: Wike desires absolute control, but Governor Fubara and Rivers people have drawn the line. Olayinka’s interview on News Central TV was nothing but a desperate attempt to deflect attention from Wike’s political blunders and meddlesome tendencies. The records are clear: Governor Fubara is focused on the interests of Rivers people, while Wike and his cronies remain trapped in a web of personal ambition. The good news is that Rivers people know the truth. Governor Fubara is acting decisively and Rivers State is moving forward under his leadership. No amount of propaganda or falsehoods can change this fact.
John Martins
Martins wrote in from Port Harcourt.
Men and women of goodwill are celebrating remarkable milestones in the life of Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara. He turned 50 on January 28, 2025. His unwavering dedication, focus on excellence, effective advocacy beyond a single-focus “magic bullet” to governance with integrated approach that recognises multiple interrelated drivers of governance change, truly inspire the people. Rivers State is the second largest economy in Nigeria. It is hub of oil and the gas industry, and remains a major contributor to the country’s wealth. It is over such strong, powerful and strategical state, Governor Fubara superintends. At 50 years, he is gold sparkles and in a season of exhilarating jubilee. In 2024, his administration hosted investment summits. Manifest results now show inflow of multiplicity of foreign investments. Strategic partnership festers and the growth of Rivers economy is sustained. Investors enjoy tax moratoriums and land title issuance.
Jollification drumbeats are intense. Fulsome sound. Overreached with symphonic echoes. Scintillated strumming. The strings. Stroke of dexterity and bellowing melody, all so enthralling. Whether in Rivers or elsewhere in Nigeria, you will wriggle waists, do joyful handclaps or leap with hope-filled heart. Feet will do the hopping. There is comforting peace. The glean. A bland. Emphatically, Rivers people bare their hearts of gratitude to God. He enthroned Governor Fubara at at an auspicious time. The people are better off today than ever. The brutish political crisis erupted like a thief at night but was hushed by a watchful watchman. Because it is contained, the people are happier. More 3,066 persons got empowered with N3.6 billion loan facility on a single-digit interest rate of 7.5per cent per annum. It was made possible by a partnership between Rivers government and Bank of Industry (BOI). It offers support to small businesses, drives economic growth, promotes job creation and wealth generation efforts. Ultimately, it is to improve the standard of living of the citizens.
Happier citizenry. Civil and public servants got statutory promotion with consequential salary paid after being stagnated on a grade level for over a decade. In December 2023 and 2024, Christmas bonuses of N100,000 apiece, was paid to each worker, a gesture also extended to retirees. Governor Fubara is a leader with a pure human and godly heart. He had not confronted political violence with violence. No shade of political witch-hunting. No arrest on trumped-up charges. No politically motivated assassinations witnessed. The most insulted by political opponents. His reliance on God is legendary in a wild field of conscienceless political maneuverings, spewing of contradictory lies, threaded thickets of threats, mounted conspiracies to truncate governance and levels of insistence to cause stampede that intend to force a surrendering of the will of the people. All, came to nought. They have become like the mountains before Zerubbabel melting into wax.
What is seen is not indentured servitude. Governor Fubara stands in the gates firmly, defusing violet plots against the mandate of Rivers people. Steadied governance, ensured protection of life and property in a peaceful State. There is messianic balm, sufficiently applied to offer a soothing to frightened hearts, and calmed troubled nerves. Of course, nobody with a decent grasp of the complexity and deep-rooted nature of the crisis will believe that it will be resolved so easily. But you will need to know this also. Governor Fubara was born on a Tuesday in Opobo Town and bears unique traits of people born on Tuesday. Of note is his persistence on chosen course, strives with conviction and wholeheartedly drives on until desirable success is achieved. He is solidly courageous, shares no tent with fear because he must take the risks required to reaching his goals, which is why he faces the challenges head-on.
He is calm though, but makes no mistake about his dogged fighting spirit, calculative and straightforward spirit that wins squarely, and fairly. Four critical priority areas are at focus; healthcare, education, agriculture and road infrastructure development. He must win too, in truly empowering the people to attain quality living. In improving public sector education, the investment is holistic, almost equal attention given to basic education, post-primary education and tertiary education. Personnel, not less than 1000 apiece, are employed into universal basic education and post-primary levels. Staff recruitment done at Ignatius Ajuru University of Education and at Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic. A new Rivers State College of Education is in the offing plus 3000 more teachers to be recruited to improve the teacher: learners’ ratio.
Modern learning infrastructure and essential instructional materials are distributed to nursery, primary, and junior secondary schools in the 23 local government areas, which included Teachers’ notebooks, smart-board pens, dusters and marker pens, writing pens, textbooks covering all subjects, Phonetics textbooks, varieties of storybooks, records and diaries for junior secondary schools, school attendance registers. The health sector has received historic investments. 25 general hospitals have capacity strengthened to provide regular, quality healthcare. More health facilities like four zonal hospitals in Bori, Ahoada, Degema, and Omoku towns in four local government areas being remodelled, expanded and upgraded. A modern psychiatric hospital is nearing completion and will be equipped to provide dedicated neuro-psychiatric services. Already, 1,000 personnel are employed by the Rivers State Health Management Board while another 1,000 are engaged by the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital (RSUTH). This will bridge manpower gap.
There is a comprehensive agriculture transformation support programme pursued with the N31 billion allocated in 2025 budget to achieve food security, enhance job creation and facilitate economic growth. Some legacy road projects included the 15.6 km Port Harcourt Ring road and 12.5km Trans-Kalabari Highway Road. These critical infrastructure consolidate development efforts. Truly, at 50, Governor Fubara will have moments for deep reflection and be genuinely propelled to express gratitude to God for divine benevolence. He stands between dreams and aspirations, some achieved, others yet pursued. What is more, in these 50 years, he has given it his all, and still eager to grasp opportunities to live to fullest while delivering more quality service to the state, country and humanity.
Tamunobarabi Ibulubo
Ibulubo is of the Rivers State Television (RSTV), Port Harcourt.
In mid October, 2024, our national electricity grid suffered three collapses just within a week, throwing many states of Nigeria in total blackouts. Right from independence, Nigeria has always set agendas for attaining steady electricity, but ends up failing to achieve that noble objective. The perennial challenge of providing reliable electricity across Nigeria is however no puzzle beyond humans, yet the sector remains backward, notwithstanding series of reforms and public expenditures. But at the centre of the failures from all past reforms, is a common factor – the reluctance by government, whether deliberate or inadvertent, to extricate itself from the operational lines of the business. The presence of Nigerian government in any business process, especially where it monopolistically occupies vital operational linkage, has proven to create bottlenecks that stifle efficiencies, and defeat the overall objectives.
This was evident in the telecommunications sector, as it is in the petroleum and power sectors. Take for instance, the current policy framework that overshadowes electricity business across Nigeria, where in the name of privatisation, government deliberately butchered off, and separately sold vital organs of the national electricity industry, in an arrangement where the generating companies (GenCos) do not have licences to transmit and distribute generated power, and distribution companies (DisCos) have no licences to produce the sole commodity they sell, while the federal government through the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), monopolistically retains transmission trades between GenCos and DisCos.The insertion of TCN between the private businesses of power generation and distribution, destroys benefits derivable from privatising electricity productions in Nigeria.
With the GenCos and DisCos answerable to the separate managements while the TCN reports to the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, it is obvious that the unbreakable chain of commands needed for seamless business operations was designed for disarray. Besides, government also solely holds the stakes in gas supplies needed for much of Nigeria’s 16,384 MegaWatts installed capacity. Due to inadequacy of gas supplies, the GenCos produce about 8,415MW, out of which, due to TCN’s inefficiency, only about 4,000MW get to DisCos. However, among the three loosely bound entities in Nigeria’s unholy marriage of electricity production, the GenCos appear more upbeat at investing for increased capacity but are dragged by delivery challenges from the TCN on the one hand, and poor revenue returns from the DisCos, on the other.
The failure of TCN to deploy modern surveillance and field data acquisition technologies to maintain network reliability, has left its facilities prone to vandalism. It does not encourage GenCos who take the major production risks that they can not deal directly with consumers. In the prevailing situation in which DisCos, being closest to power consumers harvest the collective revenue, the opaque nature of that crucial assignment as currently being conducted, gives room for under-reporting.The electricity business like any other, should project transparent prospects of profits to inspire undertakings in investment risks, and it is only operational frameworks that assure investors of end-to-end process integrity that can encourage the deployment of total commitments. Discos’ obvious reluctance at metering, nor upgrading distribution facilities for efficiency, gives no incentives to GenCos to increase investments in power generation.
It does not also help that TCN’s Market Operations (MO) department passes revenue trickles from DisCos, unto GenCos without enforcing collection transparency on the former. Most of Nigeria’s electricity transmission network infrastructure were installed more than 50 years ago. Since inheriting the transmission assets in the 2005 privatisation, and further restructuring in 2013, TCN’s Transmission Service Provider (TSP) department which is responsible for grid construction and maintenance has not done much to expand network capacity in readiness for increased generation. Neither has its System Operations (SO) department, responsible for stabilising operations, upgraded its frequency management and switching capabilities, but still relies on manual switching instead of investing in Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems that respond swiftly to changing grid frequencies.
It was not surprising therefore that a usual process fluctuation that came from uploading increased power generation into the national grid had overwhelmed SO’s manual switching capability, leading to the grid collapse of October, although Minster of Power alluded to the fact that the inability of TCN’s aged infrastructure to absorb extra power caused explosions at Jebba sub-station, leading to instabilities that collapsed the grid. Which ever be the case, the buck stops at the TCN, and by extension at government. One may then question the benefits derivable from contracts signed by the Buhari administration with Siemens of Germany in 2019. System automation is undeniably the core expertise of Siemens, and the deployment of the company’s switches would have handled grid fluctuations to prevent any collapse. Despite the huge budget allocations that go into the ministry of power, it is obvious that government processes – encumbered by bureaucracy, politics, paucity of funds and lack of business savvy – is entangling TCN’s abilities at keeping pace with its private partners.
So why should government create such a clog in the wheels of progress? Moreso, it has never been known that government declared financial profits from its years of investments in the power sector, nor are the social benefits apparent. Rather than hold unto an asset that continuously drains scarce finances at no benefits, while creating bottlenecks to processes, government should completely hands-off the industry, focus on its regulatory roles, and draw tax accruals. According to estimates by the World Bank, the failure of reliable power supplies in Nigeria costs yearly losses of $29 billion to companies who had to produce their own power, and is a major reason most companies close down in the country, or have migrated elsewhere, despite our human resource potentials and Nigeria being a huge market. The current Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) structure, in which government-owned TCN is sandwiched between disunited GenCos and DisCos, is causing conflict of interests, unsustainable and ensures a tie of stagnation.
The electricity production framework should be restructured, even if it means partitioning the national grid, into a form that gives power companies combined and seamless abilities to generate, transmit and distribute power directly to their consumers, as being experimented by the Geometric Group in Aba.
Joseph Nwankwor