Nelson Mandela once said, "No country can really develop unless its citizens are educated."
Every nation around the world has a problem being faced. In Nigeria, unemployment has been one of the major issues being faced by its citizens and the government. Literally, Unemployment is a term used by everyone in different context, and it is mainly used by Economists, Accountants, Politicians, Business Administrators and amongst other professions. According to A.C Pigou; an economist, who defined "Unemployment as those who are willing to work but unable to get a job." In recent years, backing up to this present administration, unemployment has been what the government ought to have tackled. Unemployment is a state of joblessness in a country characterized by limited or no availability of jobs for the employable population seeking for job. It is not gainful to say that about 60 percent of the total population of Nigerian Youths constitutes to be unemployed (NBS, 2019) and that Nigeria’s unemployment rate accounts for 6.11 percent (Plecher, 2020). This means that there is a large dependency ratio in the country.
Vaccinably, the only way to feed, build and develop a nation is through Education. The question is; are Nigerian youths educated? On the other hand; what is education? It is worthy to note that the term education is commonly used by all professions, but sharing from the perspective of an Educationist. According to Babs Fafunwa (1974), "education is seen as the aggregate of all the processes which a child or young adult develop its abilities, attitudes and other form of behaviors which are of positive value to the society in which he lives."
Interestingly, Unemployment is now posing a risk to fresh graduates and prospective employees. This is so because of the uncertainty in the labour market in quest for a white-collar job thereby piloting most of the students to venturing into side businesses in order to earn a living. They also do this to gain stability after graduation since jobs have become scarce. This in long run, has rendered education useless and even discourage many by saying; who school help? These have transgressed to the younger one’s at Junior Secondary School, birthing the so-called social deviance, (Yahoo-Yahoo). According to National Bureau of Statistics (NBS, 2017), Nigeria’s population is estimated to be 193 million people, it also accounts that half of the nation’s population is made up of youth, defined as individuals between 16 and 30 years of age with a population growth of 41 percent. Unfortunately, as the youth population grows, so does the unemployment rate. In fact, unemployed youths numbered about 11.1 million in 2012. However, we explore a number of trends in youth unemployment in Nigeria and discuss various government programs attempting to address the problem.
The high level of unemployment in the country has affected the education sector in many ways. From graduates striving to settle with jobs that are out of their professional qualifications, to students struggling between work and studies just to get ahead of hard times that await them after graduation, all these are consequences of an unreliable job market. Concurrently, let's ask ourselves these questions once again, why have unemployment been a major challenge to this dear nation? Is it that they're no jobs? Do we have those who are willing to work? Do we have those who meet the qualifications despite being a graduate? Why is it that most firms or organizations, wants 2 - 3 (two to three) years of working experience? These are some of the questions we keep asking ourselves.
In the publication of Jacob Mincer (1993) who asserted that, a major benefit of education is the lower risk of unemployment at higher educational levels. In PSID (Panel Study of Income Dynamics), data on the male labor force shows the reduction of the incidence of unemployment is found to be far more important than the reduced duration of unemployment in creating the educational differentials in unemployment rates. In turn, the lesser unemployment incidence of the more educated workers is, in about equal measure, due to their greater attachment to the firms employing them, and to the lesser risk of becoming unemployed when separated from the firm. The lesser frequency of job turnover of more educated workers, which creates fewer episodes of unemployment, is in large part attributable to more on the job training.
Furthermore, the establishment of the Student Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) in various institutions of higher learning in Nigeria. In every institution of higher learning, be it Polytechnics, Colleges of Educations and Universities, students are expected to undergo compulsory work experience or industrial training. This is done in such a way that the students are posted to firms or business organizations related to their respective field of study at the institution to garner practical work experience. For instance, in the Colleges of Education, students undergo Teaching Practice (T.P.) to equip themselves with the practical experience in the teaching of primary and secondary schools’ students. This is facilitated by supervising roles of cooperating teachers in the practicing school. Similarly, same applies to Polytechnics and Universities students. The overall objective is to equip the students with practical experience of what they learn in the classroom and ultimately prepare them for the work environment before and immediately after their graduation.
Unanimously, government can only tackle unemployment by coming up with programs, schemes or strategies. The government of Nigeria had tried to set up programs to curb these problems. Such programs include;
1. Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P):
The SURE-P was introduced by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan in January, 2012 with the purpose of managing government share of savings from removal of fuel subsidy which also focus on the management and investment of federal government savings derived from proceeds accruing from the partial removal of the subsidy on petroleum products. The SURE-P is the flagship of recent efforts to provide job opportunities to graduates of tertiary institutions. It is more or less a whole range of activities and programmatic schemes, including the Graduate Internship Scheme (GIS), Community Services Scheme (CSS), Vocational Training Scheme (VTS), and Community Services, Women and Youth Empowerment (CSWYE), among others.
According to Tunji Akande (2014), one of the more successful schemes of the SURE-P is the GIS, which offers unemployed graduates the opportunity to undergo a one-year internship in firms, banks, ministries, government departments and agencies, as well as in small and medium enterprises (SMEs), relevant to beneficiaries’ disciplines. The purpose of GIS is to help beneficiaries acquire the appropriate skills and practical knowledge that will make them more suitable for the job market. About 50,000 graduates were selected for the first phase of the scheme out of some 85,000 applicants.
2. Operation Feed the Nation (OFN):
Operation feed the nation was introduced by the federal military government headed by General Olusegun Obasanjo in 1976. OFN was launched on 20 May, 1976. It was recognized after the war precisely in the mid-seventies that most of the fundamental economic problems such as youth unemployment, inflation and rural-urban migration stemmed mainly from the neglect of the agricultural sector. The purpose of achieving self-sufficiency in food crop production and inspire a new generation to return to farming. Hence, the government considered it necessary to mount a nationwide campaign, and appeal with emotional flavor addressed to all Nigerians to take to farming in order “to feed themselves to feed the nation”. It had the specific focus to increasing food production on the premise that availability of cheap food would ensure a higher nutrition level and invariably lead to national development.
3. Directorate of Food, Road and Rural Infrastructure (DFRRI):
In Nigeria, the Directorate for Food Roads and Rural Infrastructure (DFRRI) emerged under the Babangida administration. The DFRRI is an interesting topic to study because of some of the debates in recent times especially the argument that by focusing on mobile technology for agricultural development instead of an aggressive rural infrastructure development project, Nigeria is putting the cart before the horse. Proponents and detractors of this argument alike would find a common ground in the integrated agenda of the DFRRI, which represented a marked shift in focus from previous policies because of its unprecedentedly wide scope. Encompassing the increased and improved production of agricultural inputs, the development of social and economic infrastructure, community participation in development, and technological improvement in the agricultural practice, the DDFRI was set to leave no stone unturned in the project of national social and economic prosperity.
A very ambitious program at the time, the policy had eighteen objectives centered on poverty alleviation, nutrition, health, and the development of infrastructure (electricity, feeder roads, boreholes, waterways).
4. Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria (YOU-WIN):
The YOU-WIN program was designed to create job opportunities specifically, again, for graduates of tertiary institutions that elect to go into business as entrepreneurs. Simply put, participants are required to develop and execute their own business ideas that will provide jobs for themselves and other unemployed youths who may or not be graduates. By 2015, the program is expected to have provided 40,000 to 50,000 new jobs, encouraged expansion, specialization and job spinoffs of existing businesses, and enabled young entrepreneurs to have a broad professional and business network (NPC, 2013).
5. Osun State Youth Employment Scheme (O’YES):
Surprisingly at the state level, the government established various forms of employment-creating programs. The most prominent one is the Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (O'YES) established by the state of Osun. The scheme provides a series of employment opportunities for participants as traffic controllers, sanitation and environmental officials, security personnel, and other works and services. The World Bank has singled out the O'YES scheme for its success in promoting youth employment in Nigeria and has recommended the scheme for replication by the federal and other state governments.
6. N-Power, Trader Money, Agro Money, etc.
Conclusively, the government and private institutions have tried their best to educate the youths to venture into self-employment, but the major solution to these is that, the government and legislative council should put into cognizance of the educational sector during the ratification of the nation’s budget as prescribed by UNESCO which commits at least 26% and also encouraging and inculcating entrepreneurial studies into the nation’s syllabus. Also, according to Msonter Anzaa (2013), the challenges of funding and policy implementation of the Nigeria’s educational system as it is today, should be tackled and faced now, while not just to be deliberated at the legislative chamber of the government.
Hence, the final solution to unemployment is work!
By Anagun, Adeyemi Michael
