In 2022, the unemployment rate in Nigeria is estimated to reach 33 percent, with the unemployment rate for people aged 25 to 34 at 37.2 percent. Former governor and presidential aspirant under the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Peter Obi recently lamented that Nigeria cannot grow economically with a 35 percent unemployment rate, urging the federal government to aggressively support Micro, Small, and Medium Scale enterprises, which are the engine of job creation.
Nigerian tertiary institutions continue to roll out graduates to the labor market yearly, yet there are only a few jobs available for them. The government on the other hand has failed to create adequate jobs that will be able to sustain unemployed youths in the country.
The widespread unemployment of youth across the country calls for serious concern because these unemployed youths have little or no contribution to the growth of the country. According to data presented by the world bank, it showed Nigeria’s population in 2020, with approximately 60% unemployed youths who could not grow the country’s economy.
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The unemployment rate keeps increasing, as more graduates are graduating yearly from tertiary institutions. In recent years, Nigeria’s economy has been dwindling without any improvement in view. It is disheartening to note that the unemployment rate in the country retards the economic growth, thus one percent increase in the unemployment rate leads to about 11.56 percent decrease in the Gross Domestic Product.
In order to improve the economy of the country, the Nigerian government has to be a major player in the establishment and management of economic and other forms of enterprises to promote job employment and growth. Also, the government needs to be intentional in building proper infrastructures and industries to increase the employment level which will boost economic growth.
Employed labor positively impacts the economy, as it improves the country’s national income. In order to improve the economy, the Nigerian government must understand that it is their duty to ensure economic growth, by creating brigades in various sectors to establish and sustain viable projects in different industries.
Statistics have shown that Micro, Small and Medium-scale enterprises are the highest employers of labor in Nigeria. It is therefore imperative to say that there is an urgent need for the government to properly fund SMEs in order to reduce the high unemployment rate in the country. It is a known fact that proper funding of SMEs acts as a strong catalyst for nation-building.
Unemployment can be seen in different nations, but the issue of unemployment in Nigeria is highly different compared to other nations. This is due to the high corruption and mismanagement of public funds that has therefore affected the employment of youths in the country.
With a close look at developed and developing nations, one would observe that there is less unemployment among the youths, the majority of them are engaged in one job or the other, which positively affects the economy.
