Concerns over rising unemployment

LINK BY Leke Salaudeen

The unemployment profile in Nigeria is alarming: Many graduates have taken to menial jobs and crime to survive. Of recent, it has generated concerns , writes LEKE SALAUDEEN

Edward Ekundayo has a degree in Physics. He graduated five years ago with a Second Class Upper from one of the first generation universities in the country. He was promised a job by the state government where he did his national service following his outstanding performance. That promise was never fulfilled. Having searched for a job for over three years, he decided to be a commercial motorcyclist just to keep body and soul together. He relived his experience: “ I left university at the age of 27. Now I am 32. How can I remain a burden on my parents. I cannot expect them to be responsible for my feeding, clothing and accommodation. Moreso, I have younger brothers and sisters who are still in school. If I can’t contribute to their educational wellbeing, I should not deprive them their right. This is what has pushed me into Okada riding.

“When I first started, I was ashamed that people who knew me would be surprised to see me doing this kind of job. But now I have developed thick skin. Idon’t care what people say. It’s the situation in the country that has turned me into a garage boy. It has changed my way of life. I don’t have time to read books. I am now used to drinking local gin which I never tasted when I was in school. The most painful experience is that my fiancée who now lectures in the university has dropped me because she believes we are no longer compatible. That is what unemployment has done to me”.

Edward is one of the army of unemployed youths, whom former President Olusegun Obasanjo, some weeks back, said are capable of leading Arab Spring-type of revolution against the country’s leader. 

President Goodluck Jonathan has also admitted that the uemployment rate calls for concern. He said if nothing was done to correct it soon, the country could be sitting on a keg of gunpowder. 

 Obasanjo’s and Jonathan’s worries may make sense if  juxtaposed with the ordeal of  Saheed Adebowale, an applicant who is now languishing in detention on trumped up charges. A graduate of Economics, Saheed went to an office in Ikeja where he had submitted an application to find out if he was among the shortlisted candidates. He was so elated to find his name among those invited for the interview. On his way home his joy was short-lived. He passed through an area where armed robbery had just taken place. Unknown to him, plain cloth policemen were on the trail of men of the underworld. He was instantly arrested and bundled into the waiting van and taken to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Oduduwa, Ikeja. He has been under interrogation since October. He missed the interview that could have fetched him his first job four years after graduation. All testimony to prove that Saheed was at the company two hours before the robbery incident was turned down by the police. The police is working on the theory that jobless school leavers have taken to robbery these days, hence the plea of innocence by Saheed was in doubt.

The involvement of four graduates in robbery incidents in Ogun State bears testimony to the view that school leavers too are members of the underworld. The suspects were arrested by men Ogun State police command after a series of bank robbery in the state. According to a statement by one of them, Ganiyu Olajide, a graduate of Psychology, he was pushed into robbery because five years after leaving school he could not get a job. “It is frustration that has led me into this,” he added. 

Another applicant, Godwin Izuogu, had his world shattered by a trigger-happy policeman attached to Surulere Division in Lagos. Godwin who hails from Anambra State came to Lagos in search of a job. The policeman was said to have fired his gun at the commuter bus which Godwin boarded from Lagos Island at National Stadium bus stop. It was only Godwin that was hit. The policeman who was apprehended by the people around said the driver refused to stop when he flagged him down.

By the time the smoke from the cop’s gun cleared, the entire flesh of the upper biceps of Godwin’s left hand was completely gone leaving only the bones. He had been taken to many hospitals for treatment. Doctors say he may lose his hand.

Nigeria has about 90 million people who are willing and able to work, but about 70 million of them have no jobs. The figure is alarming. It means that only about 20 million Nigerians have jobs of a population of 160 million. According to a World Bank report, the millions of people with no jobs represent a serious impediment to Nigeria’s economic development. Besides draining the country’s human resources, it generates losses in terms of lower output which results in poorer incomes and increased poverty. It also causes social decay and inhibits national cohesion. This causes the country to lose about N2 trillion annually.

The national unemployment rate rose from 4.3 per cent in 1970 to 6.4 per cent in 1980; 40 per cent in 1992 and 41.6 per cent in 2011.The high rate of unemployment recorded this year is attributed largely to depression in the economy. 

The Manufacturers’ Association of Nigeria (MAN) reports that 834 industries closed in 2010. It cited erratic power as the major reason for these closures.Many industries ran to neighbouring West African countries because of lower production cost.

The Kano chapter of MAN said 86 industries have closed down in the state due to unfriendly government policies. The branch chairman Alhaji Sani Umar lamented that thousands of workers have lost their jobs, saying “We considered it necessary to associate the current problems bedevilling the development of industries in Kano to absence of clear government’s industrial policy.” 

Over the years, hundreds of factories that hitherto provided employment to graduates and artisans have collapsed. For instance, over 150 textile industries had closed and the trend continues. This is because energy supply which serves as the main engine of production has been comatose, thus forcing the surviving industries to depend on power generators while the country becomes a dumping ground for all imported items. 

Many artisans like welders, aluminium window fitters, tailors, who cannot afford power generators are today out of work. In desperation, many Nigerian youths have taken to riding commercial motor cycles while others went into street hawking just to keep body and soul together. The country is faced with a gross abuse and under-utilisation of human resources with direct impact on national productivity and competitiveness. Brain drain in all professions has become common.

Youth and Social Development Minister Mr Bolaji Abdullahi said the unemployment figure of 41.6 per cent is about the highest in the world, noting that the lack of opportunities and the sense of hopelessness make the youth susceptible to violence, crime and terrorism.

Abdullahi said: “There are clear indications of this already, given the role of the youths  in the 2011 post-election violence and the increasing incidence of religious extremism typified by the Boko Haram menace”. He asserted that the figure in Nigeria was well above the 25 per cent average rate for North Africa and the Middle East which have been rocked by civil unrest largely spearheaded by unemployed youths.

The minister, who noted that there were developmental initiatives across various sectors and tiers of government aimed primarily to address the problem of unemployment in Nigeria, however regretted that the efforts were hardly visible.

“Unfortunately, most of these initiatives fall short in terms of scope and scale. All put together, current interventions in the public, private and non-public sector reach fewer than 100,000 youths per year of more than 20 million unemployed youths.

“In addition, the subsisting initiatives are limited by not being youth specific, by poor collaboration and cooperation across the sectors, by outdated and theoretical training models, and by distance from the grassroots.”