How to reduce the unemployment rate in Nigeria

The unemployment rate in Nigeria is fast getting out of hand. At the moment (2021 Q4), Nigeria’s unemployment rate stands at above 33%. 

Fortunately, Nigeria can still turn this situation around if all hands are put on deck to combat the factors responsible for it. We must all do our part to fight the identified causes of increased unemployment in Nigeria;

1. High Population Growth Rate
2. Inadequate education
3. Fiscal and Other Policies of Government
4. Poor power situation
5. The elderly controlled government believes that the youths are lazy
6. Not enough jobs to go around everyone.
7. Slow economic growth
8. Massive Corrupt acts at various levels

According to Bloomberg, unemployment in Africa’s largest economy surged to the second-highest on a global list of countries monitored by Bloomberg.

Unemployment is measured by the unemployment rate – the number of unemployed people as a percentage of the labour force (the total number of people employed, added to those unemployed).

If we want to curb the unemployment rate in Africa’s largest economy, it is pertinent to understand the causes. Perhaps if we could fix the issues from their root, we would have recorded significant successes, especially since they affect the youth, who are also the most productive segment of our labour force.

The unemployment situation has stretched so much over the years and is now at a breaking point. The country’s quality of life has declined in recent years, with more families plunged into poverty.

Nigeria, which prides itself as the ‘Giant of Africa’, is undoubtedly riding on its past glory at the moment. Perhaps, we should look at the population growth rate as a possible cause. Otherwise, what explains the fact that about 33.3% of its population size is unemployed?

Unemployment can have many sources, such as the following:

• New technologies and inventions
• The status of the economy, which can be influenced by a recession
• Competition caused by globalization and international trade
• Policies of the government
• Regulation and market

In most cases, unemployment and the status of the economy are influenced by a country through its fiscal policy.

Why the unemployment rate in Nigeria is high

There are different factors to be blamed for the prevalence of unemployment among Nigerian youths.

In this article, we will take a close look at the unemployment situation in Nigeria, past attempts to reduce the unemployment rate in the country, what works and what doesn’t. 

We would then take a critical look at what we must do to reduce the number of unemployed people.

Problem: High population growth rate

First, you must note that Nigeria is the most populated African country, yet it is highly under-industrialized. It means that more people struggle for the few jobs available in the country. 

Between 1965 and 2021, the Nigerian population has regularly increased at a rate above 2%. In 2020, it recorded a 2.58% population growth compared to the previous year. 

Suggested Solution: Enact laws to limit the number of births per household to the barest minimum. 

Perhaps, as someone reading this article, you may also want to help solve this issue by reducing the number of children you birth, considering that their likelihood of living a good quality life depends on the overall quality of life that Nigeria has to offer them.

Problem: Inadequate Education

Inadequate education: If something is inadequate, there is not enough of it, or it is not good enough, or simply insufficient.

In a developing world like ours, I firmly believe that we should focus more on creating more strategic skills acquisition centres; centres built to industrialize Nigeria in certain sectors with abundant raw materials.

One of the problems with our education system is that it is focused on teaching the youths to work for others. Thus, most youths have the mindset of graduating from college or the university system to look for employment with the government or any other person who was courageous enough to set up a business.

Problem: Fiscal and Other Policies of Government

The COVID-19 pandemic did not help matters. The disease outbreak ravaged the country just like other nations, causing some businesses to downsize and some to shut down, further increasing unemployment.

This problem is partly caused by the Nigerian government’s structural adjustment program (SAP) in the 1980s, which led to the shutting down of many industries. The country is yet to recover from that debilitating public policy.

Nigeria’s educational system is also not helping matters. The academic curriculum, especially at the Secondary and University level, is too poor. The curriculum lacks the potential to impact students’ lives and equip them with the right skill and knowledge to conquer the world. Schools in the rural areas are even more affected as they have more teachers with poor training and have inadequate teaching facilities and structures. The result of these is that the school system produces unemployable students who lack the right skills to excel in society.

There is also a scarcity of data or adequate information on employment and entrepreneurship in the country, making it harder for policymakers to make informed decisions on how to make the labour market favourable for the youths. 

The Nigerian government, which are the key decision-makers, also seem to have been nonchalant or slow in implementing feasible strategies to increase the nation’s employment rate.  

How to tackle the unemployment problem in Nigeria

Aside from gross domestic product (GDP), another indicator of the strength or weakness of an economy is the employment rate. A nation’s employment rate is also useful in predicting the future levels of its economy.

Things were not this bad in the 1960s and 70s. Back then, it was a norm that when students graduate from universities and even teaching colleges, they have jobs ranging from professional to clerical jobs waiting for them. In fact, the best graduating students always had high-profile corporations and companies waiting for them with tempting job offers. But as the years went by, things changed. What went wrong?

A report on Bloomberg in March 2021 showed that Nigeria’s unemployment rate rose to 33%, making Nigeria’s unemployment rate the second-highest on a global list of countries monitored by Bloomberg. That is a 6.2% increase from the 27.1% unemployment statistics in the second quarter of 2020. 

Perhaps this increase in the unemployment rate didn’t surprise the Nigerian government, considering that its Minister of Labour, Senator Chris Ngige, already predicted that the unemployment rate would reach 33.5% by the end of 2020. 

The Bloomberg report further highlighted that about a third of Nigeria’s 69.7 million labour force either had no work at all or worked for less than 20 hours a week (which is equivalent to unemployment). Another 15.9 million were underemployed (they worked for less than 40 hours a week).

These reports show that Nigeria is far behind other countries in terms of employability. For instance, according to the U.S Bureau of Labour Statistics report, the nation’s unemployment rate stands at 4.8% in 2021. Ghana, a neighbouring country and a developing country, has an unemployment rate of 4.53% as of December 2020. 

At this rate, if nothing is done, Nigeria will be thrown into an utter state of poverty because of low income for the average citizen, low productivity and low employment. Sadly, the citizens at the lower end of the financial ladder will suffer the most. 

Before we address how to reduce the unemployment rate in Nigeria, let’s first give an overview of some strategies that have been implemented so far to increase the employment rate. It is noteworthy that while some of the implemented strategies worked, some caused little or no changes in the labour scene. 

What has been done so far to address unemployment issues

Different programs aimed at addressing unemployment and alleviating poverty have been introduced by various government administrations over time. In fact, this was one of the major focuses of the social policy of the military government when they were ruling Nigeria. The government then drafted unemployed youth and poverty alleviation schemes like the Directorate of Food, Road and Rural Infrastructure (DIFRRI) and Operation Feed the Nation (OFN). 

Other planned measures followed suit. There were labour demand strategies that focused on creating jobs in the private sector or through public works. There were also labour market intervention strategies that were aimed at enhancing the labour market and matching labour demand with its supply.

With the transition from military to civilian rule, succeeding civilian administrations discontinued most of the old programs, restructured some of them, refocused unemployment programs and created new ones. They tried working with the three levels of government (federal, state and local) to address public policy on employment. 

They also established agencies and made institutional arrangements to promote employment and empower the youths. Some of the popular youth empowerment programs initiated by the Nigerian government include Youth Enterprise With Innovation in Nigeria (YOUWIN), Presidential Youth Entrepreneurship Support (PYES) and N-Power.

While these programmes are great initiatives, some of them have been unable to address the issues surrounding unemployment because of challenges like inadequate funding, inconsistent government policies, bad government administration, corrupt system, a passive response from would-be trainees and unqualified people handling the training programmes. 

Now, the question is, what can be done to change things? What are unique strategies the nation should implement to ensure the rate of unemployment in Nigeria reduces drastically? 

What should be done to reduce Nigeria’s unemployment rate

The current Nigerian system is messed up. Nigeria needs to go back to the drawing board to get things right. Here are some things Nigeria should do to create more jobs and make more positions available for its citizens.

·      Population control

Nigerians need to understand that no blessing comes with having many children they cannot cater for. 

Nigeria is a diverse country with different ethnic groups, languages and religions. Some of the tribes and religions support polygamy, which leads to many children in one family. The result is that one man will be unable to cater for his whole family. This leaves the children with the option of hawking or, worse still, venturing into criminal acts like stealing and online fraud to survive. 

While there is no justification for people defrauding others and stealing from others, the fact remains that the unemployment situation in the country and the economic hardship push people to illegal means of earning money.

This is why the population needs to be educated about family control. It will be best for parents to give birth to fewer children they can cater for. This will also make things easier for the government because it means the population will reduce or at least grow at a controlled rate. In this way, when jobs are created, they will meet the needs of the masses.

·      Change the education system

It is sad that Nigeria is still working with an outdated school curriculum. Have the Nigerian academic board not seen what other countries are doing? The Chinese Basic Education curriculum, for instance, has since moved from the passive learning style to the active and problem-solving style, which enables students to improve on information processing, problem-solving and knowledge acquisition. Education is one of the strongest factors that moved China to where it is now as one of the top economies in the world.

Nigerian academic institutions need to start introducing subjects that contribute to the mental growth of students as well as address contemporary issues. 

Another issue the education system has is that it is designed to glorify grades rather than skills and knowledge. That is why the school keeps on spurring students without intellect and zero skills every year. The school should teach students how to do things practically and not just the theoretical aspect. 

How about the country changing this outdated academic curriculum to include relevant subjects that encourage critical thinking, creativity, information literacy, leadership skill acquisition, independent research and digital literacy?

Also, can the country’s academic board change teachers that know nothing about the subjects they are teaching? You can’t give what you do not have. Either they are trained to be better equipped to teach students, or they leave the academic scene. 

·      Fund or subsidize capacity building training

With the current situation of things in the country, many Nigerian youths are ready to start all over with building capacity and skills acquisition such as ICT skills. This includes even university graduates. But most times, these eager youths face one obstacle- a lack of funds to acquire the skills they need. 

Nigeria has capable capacity-builders dedicated to helping youths attain their full potential. However, their training usually comes at a very high cost. While some may be willing to train beginners for free, the students are usually required to pay for advanced classes. This is where the Nigerian government should come in. Either the government organizes training and skill acquisition programs, or they subsidize training initiated by private citizens so even the poor masses can participate. 

The financial barrier is a big hindrance for Nigerians who are willing to learn. Removing that barrier will bring the best skills to those who need it. The result is that job seekers get to acquire the right skills they need to land any job of their dreams or even start their own businesses.

·      Support and fund entrepreneurship

Nigerians cannot rely on government jobs alone. The few available government jobs will hardly meet the job demands in the nation. This is why the country needs more entrepreneurs. If more businesses are set up, more jobs will be created for the people that need them.

Many young Nigerians are business enthusiasts. They have an entrepreneurial spirit. They have all it takes to be top managers and CEOs of firms; however, they need financial support from the government to achieve their goals. 

Thanks to non-governmental organizations that have funded business proposals and well-meaning individuals like Tony Elumelu, who founded the Tony Elumelu Foundation. With their help, more youths have been gainfully employed, and jobs have been created for the masses. The Nigerian government should take a cue and support young people that want to venture into entrepreneurship. They should provide funds for great business proposals either by issuing grants or interest-free loans.

·      Diversify economy

Over the years, Nigeria has heavily relied on oil to boost its economy. But it is high time Nigeria diversifies and move into other things like agriculture and production to get the economy moving. 

Attention should be given to the agricultural sector once again. Urban dwellers might not be interested in agriculture, but rural inhabitants are. Farming is an occupation. Therefore, agricultural loans and other farm inputs should be available to farmers on a large scale to boost agricultural production.

It is high time Nigeria stops importing everything. The government should build companies and industries to produce some of the goods that are imported. This will not only boost the economy but will also provide employment. 

The youths should be taught about the need to make investments and also how to invest right. Forex trading and stock investments are great ways of earning money, but the youths need people to teach them how to venture into these areas. Everything should not be hinged on oil; Nigeria needs to wake up!

·      Change of policymakers 

Nigerian policymakers need to stop talking more and start doing more. The Nigerian government is filled with corruption, nepotism and favouritism. This affects every sector of the economy. 

Some of the people involved in the policy and decision making of the country are not even capable, but they are being paid huge salaries while they do little or nothing. These people mismanage the good resources Nigeria has been blessed with thus, causing hindered economic development and high-level mass unemployment. 

The election period sees politicians and party candidates make different promises to the masses. When they finally get elected, they go “offline”, nowhere to be found when needed. 

There needs to be a change of policymakers. Nigeria needs active and capable people who are willing and ready to work to get the citizens out of the vicious cycle of poverty. The new or reformed policymakers should work to provide an enabling environment (e.g., supply of electricity and security) where economic activities can thrive.

Conclusion

The unemployment issue in Nigeria is taking a toll on the citizens of the nation. However, it is not a problem that cannot be solved. What Nigerians need is a total transformation from the policymaking framework down to the citizens. 

The government needs to put up strategies that will boost economic activities and should encourage investment. On the other hand, the youths need to equip themselves mentally, intellectually and creatively so they can be in a better position to grab jobs when they come and create new jobs for others.

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