SCOURGE OF UNEMPLOYMENT IN NIGERIA

              SCOURGE OF     UNEMPLOYMENT IN NIGERIA.

 By YUSUF A YUSUF

Every successful nation attaches more importance to the growth and development to its youths. The deliberate determination of a nation to upgrade the lives of its youths must be a major concern of the leaders, but in Nigeria, reverse seems to be the case.

The issue of unemployment in Nigeria is one of the major hindrances affecting Nigeria's economy. It occurs when the agile youths who are ready to work could not secure a truly satisfying job for a long time; this has been persistent for a period of time in Nigeria.

Meanwhile, youth unemployment is devastating to both the individual and the nation as a whole psychologically and economically. It has become every youth's nightmare, having to undergo a lot of stress by roaming the street in an attempt to secure a job without any certainty. Those who could secure job in private sectors receive poor salary which cannot sustain them beyond feeding.

In the same vein, there are different causes of unemployment, such as recession, lack of quality education, high and rapid population growth, unstable and corrupt political environment, to mention a few. In Nigeria, it has been worsened by the recent decline in the country's economy. A lot of people have been laid off; while new jobs were not created. Most companies laid off employees because they could not afford to pay their workers.

It is a worthy of note that most employers believe that Nigerian graduates are unemployable. This is the result of the educational program which usually include theories and a lack of practical use of knowledge. In every tertiary institutions, students must know the basic and how to apply practical knowledge (i.e the theoretical aspects and the practical aspects); but in Nigeria, reverse seems to be the case; whereas students know the theoretical aspects of their discipline but lack practical aspects of their discipline due to lack of technical equipment in Nigerian school. Also, most tertiary educational courses lack entrepreneurial training; for instance, a graduate of engineering course knows the theory but lacks necessary practical engineering skills.

Another major factor responsible for the high level of unemployment in Nigeria is the rapid growth in population. There has been an increase in the growth of the labor forces along with the inadequate supply of jobs; which has led to high level of joblessness in the country.

Additionally,  poor leadership and high level of corruption in Nigeria is one of the causes of unemployment; which has been affecting the progress of Nigeria's economy. The failure of the government to perform their constitutional duties has resulted in the high level of unemployment. Also, the level of corruption in Nigeria among politicians has resulted in the mismanagement of the funds and resources that are supposed to be used for the creation of job opportunities for the youths.

Due to the increasing unemployment rate in Nigeria, there have been adverse effects on both the economy and the society, such as; high level of poverty, reduction in the national output of goods and services, high rate of crimes, increase in the number of dependent people, kidnappings, restiveness and socially delinquent behaviour, fraudulence, robberies, prostitution; to mention a few. It has become a major problem bedeviling the lives of Nigerian youths, both psychologically and economically.

conclusively, to overcome the catastrophe of unemployment in Nigeria, the government must be effective in performing their duties. There must be a consideration for each sector as regard economy and to provide the necessary infrastructure and industrial friendly environment. Agriculture is one of the major sectors and the government has to do everything possible to attract private investors. Also, the government needs to create schools, social amenities, infrastructure and job opportunities in rural areas. The educational system needs to be reformed in order to produce skilled graduates, innovators, and entrepreneurs practice and research should be prioritized, not just the theoretical learning (i.e there should be adequate technical equipment for every university). Nigerians also have to play their parts in reducing the level of unemployment in the country; affluent Nigerians should use the influence to create job opportunities (private companies) both in rural and urban areas in order to eradicate the level of unemployment and to elevate the nation's economic system.