The most petrifying reality that patently confronts every mortal is the knowledge of a day when the killer of men finally conveys them to the netherworld. Death. An inevitable fate that awaits all and sundry. Painful as the experience could be, dependent upon circumstances, it could less be torturous and excruciating than certain killing realities that are quite as lethal as death itself. And it is that dreadful reality, that scathful killer, that menacing tormentor that Nigerian youths grapple with on a daily basis. Joblessness. A never-ending warfare without any hope of conquest in sight.
Sadly, this wasn’t always this case. A time travel to the 1970s (a period of economic boom) reveals that just 6.2 percent of the population of the youths were unemployed. Fast-forward to the 1980s and 1990s and the figures escalated to. 9.8% and 11.5% respectively. Currently, the status quo is egregious at best. Bureau of statistics estimates the current youth unemployment rate at over 25 percent. By implication, 25 million of Nigeria’s youth population of about 100 million are unemployed. Staggering. In which, about 2 million graduates enter the labour market yearly. Worrying.
A year prior to making an incursion into the competitively dreaded labour market, graduates of the country embark on a national voyage into the alluring world of NYSC. The hotchpotch of activities in the initial stage of service year always seemingly tend to deflect any throbbing anxiety of the eventual reality. A few months to round off, a collaboration of angst and worry engulfs one in full scale. Suddenly, the seemingly dreadable becomes inevitable. With the
terrifying killer, joblessness, unleashed. And the quest for survival begins. C.V submissions become a significantly compulsory task. During the phase of test and interviews, you probably would never be familiarized with any other hodgepodge of words than this- ‘ We’ll get back to you’. A somewhat subtle phraseology for dismissal, in some instances. If by happenstance you secure the job, you are offered a financial package that isn’t even adequate enough to cover you transportation expenses. Worse still, you are subjected to rigorous amount and period of work from the slave driver. Amidst all the frustration, and financial incapacitation, you encounter potential ‘employers’ or more or less exploiters who would demand you pay an amount of money to commence ‘work’. Speaking with Segun, 28, an unemployed youth, he lamented thus: ‘The level of unemployment in this country is alarming. And it doesn’t help when you get an sms inviting you for an interview from a nameless company who are no more than fraudsters. Then getting there, you are asked to pay a sum of money to register or whatever. Just imagine. Asking money from someone that is jobless. If he was buoyant financially, i’m sure he won’t be job hunting.” Far more reaching effects are the compendium of psychological damages joblessness inflicts on the myriads of unemployed youths that abound in the country.
From shattering of confidence to dampening of morale, then the capacity to crush your spirit while also threatening your self-esteem. As a matter of fact, the usual respect accorded to one diminishes. Comparison with your already successful friends from yourself and probably from folks becomes a common habit. The societal implication makes this nagging issue more grave. Unemployment, if it persists, will eventually threaten the economic sustainability of the country nolens volens. Crime rates, which are already preponderant, will further ramp up stratospherically. With survival being the prevalent focus, room for infusion of creativity and invention to the country’s advantage would discouragingly nosedive. Rather disconcerting is the widening lacuna that will further stretch between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’. Already, the inequality of incomes is not only damaging the societal equilibrium but brutally impoverishing the lower strata of the society. A stunning report from Nigerian Bureau of Statistics which opines that 65 percent of Nigeria’s wealth is owned by 20 percent of the population (30 million) undoubtedly delivered a damning assessment to the moribund state of affairs we’ve assumed as a nation.
There can be no way forward to assassinate this unemployment menace except the government starts playing its constitutional role by creating enabling socio-economic and political environment. Granted they have done something right with the institution of the Sure-p albeit besmirched with the meagre allowance for the enrollees, there is a crushing feeling that they can do much more better, factoring the attractive welfare package of the leaders in the corridors of power and the comically mediocre minimum wage for workers that betrays reality. Rather than indulging in jabberwocky activities, fruitlessly ineffective policies, devoted primacy should be accorded into building infrastructures and providing basic amenities especially sustainable power supply to bield entrepreneurial interest and involvement. Hence bet hedging the obsession for white-collar jobs. Similarly, a bidimensional foredeal with providing an enabling surroundings to thrive is the influx of foreign investors. Another pertinent issue that needs to be underscored and thoroughgoing remedied is the hesitance of individuals above retirement age to retire in due time. If rightly addressed, it would further plummet the backlog of unemployed youths. Much to everyone’s satisfaction. Yet the greater satisfaction would specially be reserved for the utter annihilation of the killer itself- joblessness.
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