ON Monday, an apparently frustrated unemployed Nigerian threatened to start working at any available company if he did not get a job by the end of this month. The young man wrote on twitter: “If I don’t get a job this month, next month I’d just wake up, dress up (sic), go to any company and start working. If they call the police, (I will) go to the police station and start working there too. We are tired of sending CVs.” The tweet, which is now trending online, would have been merely hilarious if it was not reflective of the sad state of affairs in the country. Whether the author of that tweet had been trying to get a job for a long time without success and wished to harness the power of social media in actualising his aspiration or he was merely trying to express the frustration felt by millions of unemployed Nigerians, his action has certainly drawn attention yet again to the increasing rate of joblessness in the country.
In 2017, Nigeria emerged as the country with the third highest unemployment rate in the world, following South Africa and Greece in the dismal performance on this socioeconomic statistics, while in 2018, it ranked 157th out of 157 countries, according to the Commitment to Reducing Inequality (CRI) index, a global ranking of governments based on what they are doing to address the gap between the rich and the poor. Instructively, in December last year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) indicated that the total number of people classified as unemployed increased from 17.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2017 to 20.9 million in the third quarter of 2018. Out of these persons, the bureau said 11.1 million did under 20 hours’ work per week to be officially classified as employed while 9.7 million did absolutely nothing.
The NBS report added that out of the 9.7 million unemployed persons that did absolutely nothing as of the third quarter of this year, 8.77 million, representing 90.1 per cent, were reported to be unemployed because they were first-time job seekers and had never worked before. On the other hand, the report noted, 9.9 per cent of the 9.7 million that were unemployed and doing nothing at all reported that they were unemployed because they were previously employed but lost their jobs at some point in the past. Surely, the fact cannot be doubted that in the absence of clear economic plans designed to create jobs and provide an opportunity for a fast-growing population like Nigeria’s, the rate of joblessness can only increase.
Currently, more than half of Nigeria’s population grapples with extreme poverty, while the few elite enjoy ever-growing wealth. In spite of its rhetoric, the Federal Government has failed to pass and put into practice, policies that will narrow the gap between the ultra-rich and the poor, manage resources efficiently and equitably, and reduce the high cost of governance that panders to vested interests at the expense of ordinary citizens. It has instead increased the cost of governance, making life rosy for its officials while the majority of Nigerians live in horrendous conditions. The situation is more or less the same at the state level where creative managers are a scarce commodity. The local governments have been rendered perennially prostrate, relying on the state governments for crumbs that only sustain their often unelected leaderships. The private sector, on its part, is hanging by a thread, crippled by the harsh operating environment.
It is therefore not surprising that the unemployment situation in the country is worsening. The political class, to date, has not been persuaded to drop its predatory proclivities, with the effect that vast population of Nigerians are mere serfs toiling day and night to preserve the privileges enjoyed by their oppressors. Yet it is a fact that Nigeria’s future is imperilled if the rate of joblessness remains as it is, let alone worsening. If the youths cannot obtain jobs and if an enabling environment is not provided for them to create jobs, there is no predicting what subversive activities they will give themselves over to. With what they see on the internet, it is only a matter of time before they wreak havoc on the country.
It is a tragedy that governments at all levels seem to be deaf to the outcry among Nigerians, but it would be even more tragic if those coming into office in the next political dispensation prove to be no better than their predecessors. It is time to approach governance from a developmental, visionary and problem-solving perspective. Now, more than ever, public office-holders need to be creative in the management of public funds. They must tap into the opportunities that have hitherto not been explored and give the youths ample opportunities to turn their talents into businesses. They must shelve the practice of seeing public office only as an opportunity for self-enrichment. Needless to say, it is the duty of all patriotic Nigerians to ensure that the country returns to the federalist path charted by its founders rather than helping to perpetuate the current iniquitous and unproductive system. The increasing rate of joblessness in the country must be curbed, and very fast too.
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