TAMING THE YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT
Youth unemployment is one the numerous challenges confronting us as a nation! Sometimes one will be tempted to believe that it has no solution just like the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). This is because, in the cause of writing this piece, I studied some of the articles written by some of our finest journalists in the late 1980s, coupled also with some of the party manifestoes from 1979 to 2011 elections, and I discovered that, the monster called youth unemployment had been one the recurring campaign issues, just like we say “Obi is a boy” every year in this country. The question is, “If Obi keeps answering a boy every year, when will Obi be called a man?”
However, Nigerians were outraged when Aliko Dangote revealed how 6 PhD holders and 704 Master Degree holders were among the number of applicants that applied for driving jobs in his company; whereas, somewhere else in our interconnected world, we have university drop-outs leading or owning 2 of the top 10 global brands.
Our garbage in, garbage out style of education which has narrowed the definition of education in Nigerian concept as the acquisition of certificates as against the standard definition of education as the acquisition of knowledge, the aggregates of all processes, through which a person develops ideas, skills, abilities, attitudes and other forms of behavior with positive imparts in the society in which he lives should be looked in to!
There is no doubt that the currency of change in the 21st century is idea, and not a revolution as some persons erroneously believes! It was this idea of making personal computers available to every desk and every home in 1975 that made Bill Gate, the world's richest man for 13 consecutive years. It was this idea that made Mark Zuckerberg, to be 35th among the world's richest persons in the globe with an estimated worth of $17.5 billion fortune, to invent the Face book in 2004.
Nonetheless, while I believe that government alone cannot create all the needed jobs in the country, I also believe that, in a country where the private sector is weak, application of Keynesian Economics, which says that active government intervention in the market place and monetary policy is the best method of ensuring economic growth and stability is necessary.
It is not as if the Nigerian Youths are bereft of ideas, but the policies in place are not encouraging! One of the secrets behind America's great success is the existence of venture capitalists, and according to investopedia.com, venture capital is the money provided by investors to start up firms and small businesses with perceived long term growth potential. In other words, venture capital is funds provided by investors to start ups who do not have access to the capital market.
At the height of the global economic crisis, President Obama on assumption of office on January 20 2009, proposed and pushed for the passage of $787 billion Stimulus Plan in the Congress. This government spending package and tax reduction plan was designed to create jobs and revive the struggling United States economy. Before the November 6, 2012 Presidential Election, the Obama administration had created about 5 million jobs for Americans, while reducing the unemployment figure to 7.9 percent before the election.
Similarly, while accurate unemployment figure in Nigeria may be lacking because most Nigerians work in the informal sector, the newly released World Bank Report entitled: “World Development Report 2013: Jobs” indicates that, out of the 7 billion population in the world, 1.6 billion people are either working for a wage or a salary, 1.5 billion people are either working in farms or as self employed. The rest are; 115 million children working in hazardous conditions, 21 million are victims of forced labour, while 621 million youths are neither working nor studying. The report equally added that, 600 million jobs are needed in 15 years time to keep the current employment rates, while entrants to the labour force in Sub-Saharan Africa is 10 million per year.
Furthermore, according to the Nigerian Business Directory of 2009, provided by business list.com.ng, companies in Nigeria are in the following profile; Business Services -- 32,975, Computers and Internet – 5,114, Entertainment and Media – 3,750, Events and Conferences – 994, Finance and Insurances – 7,455, Food and Drinks – 4,368, Health and Beauty – 5,775, Legal – 1,926, Manufacturing and Industry – 8,443, Shipping – 9,796, Tourism and Accommodations – 4,891, Tradesmen and Construction – 6,109, Transport and Motoring – 5,316, Public and Social Services – 4,781 and Property – 5,500.
Since successive administrations in the country have made us to believe that youth unemployment is a mystery which no regime could conquer, I think the current administration has the golden opportunity to demystify this mystery, but not with the current N15 billion voted for job creation in the 2013 Budget proposal before the National Assembly!
Comrade Edwin Ekene is the National President of Young Nigerians for Change.
No. 29, Ben Mbamalu Crescent, Achara Layout, Enugu State.
07065862479, 08076134054
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