HIGH RATE OF UNEMPLOYMENT IN NIGERIA; CAUSES AND SOLUTIONS.
ABDULRASHEED HAMMAD, 200L student,
Nigeria is blessed with numerous natural resources such as crude oil, coal, cocoa, timber, to mention but few. Funny enough, our unemployment rate is higher than that of some other countries that rely on these natural resources alone. A perfect example of this is Saudi Arabia that relies on their crude oil only.
Unemployment is a condition in which one has no job to do on a regular basis or simply put the state of having no job. This is one of the major challenges facing Nigeria.
According to the bureau of statistics, as at September 2016, 65% of Nigeria youth are facing unemployment problem.
A sizeable chunk of factors precipitating unemployment in Nigeria rest on government inability to carry out one of her elementary functions vested on her by the constitution. By virtue of section 17(3)a of the 1999 constitution which states that:
"The state shall direct its policy towards ensuring that (a) All citizens without discrimination on any group whatsoever have the opportunity for securing adequate means of livelihood as well as adequate opportunity to secure suitable employment"
Should this section connotes compulsory and mandatory on the government to direct its policy towards adequate opportunity to secure suitable employment, but our government has regrettably failed to do this due to the high rate of corruption in our different political offices.
Another important reason for the unemployment rate in Nigeria is the rapid growth in population. While there is inadequacy of job opportunities, the perpetual and rapid increase in our population is not helping matters at all.
The main solution to solve the problem of unemployment in Nigeria is for the government to create more job opportunity for the people by setting up industries, companies and vocational Centre in a state to teach people on how to establish their own business without relying on government job. And they should encourage the unemployed to go in to trading and farming which do not require much money to start off.
Also, our educational system needs to be reformed because most courses in our universities only deal with the theoretical aspects and fail to touch the practical parts. Courses such as Engineering, Agriculture and others need a more practical approach to studying them. This way, the students will not necessarily have to depend on government employment and thus they will be able to create their own enterprise .
However, it is not realistic to ask of the government to provide adequate job opportunities for all the citizens. The citizens should also engage in vocational works such as mechanics, tailoring, animal husbandry and others so that they can establish and create their own businesses for themselves.
Moreover, the government should encourage companies and wealthy Nigerians to establish more industries by giving them better incentives. They should also empower the youths by providing loans for them without interest, to be able to set up their own business on their own without relying on anyone.
Finally, to solve the high rate of unemployment in Nigeria, Nigerians should vote for people with credibility, integrity, devotion, hardworking capacity and readiness to work; leaders who will cater for the masses and save Nigerians from the problem of unemployment.
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