THE Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), the apex sociopolitical organisation in the North, recently raised the alarm over the burgeoning statistics of unemployment in the northern part of the country. Linking the ugly phenomenon to the increasing wave of insecurity predominant in the region, the forum described it as a ticking time bomb that could explode in the face of Nigeria. The ACF made this declaration in a communiqué issued after its Board of Trustees’ meeting held in Kaduna, Kaduna State. Predicating the situation on, among other things, the absence of financial institutions that could advance the economic growth and fortunes of the region, the ACF called for a concerted effort to address the menace. It said: “On the problems of unemployment in the North, it is regrettable that the North has not realised it is sitting on a time bomb which can explode at any time. The board resolved that there is the need to take immediate action to salvage the youth from lethargy, drugs and substance abuse, despondency and banditry.”
Unemployment is indeed one major threat to the country’s corporate existence. School leavers and even skilled workers consistently find it herculean to get jobs, and this raises the level of hopelessness in the country. The alarm raised by the ACF is thus real and frightening, a threat that has the capacity to dwarf whatever economic and political advantages Nigeria may achieve in the foreseeable future. A number of factors have been cited for the situation, including the high population growth rate. There are also the factors of deficient school curricula, poor teacher training, the inability of many educational institutions to attune their teachings to the requirements of the 21st-century world, as well as the inability to provide appropriate skills that could make the students employable.
The unemployment menace is certainly not restricted to northern Nigeria; it is a national problem. Unfortunately, governments at all levels do not seem to realise the immense damage it is doing to the system and the colossal havoc it could wreak on the country’s future. Very scant attention is being paid to the teeming youth who are in their active years. Due to this absence of engagement, the youth are expending their energies on anti-social activities that have become the albatrosses of the society, including the “lethargy, drugs and substance abuse, despondency and banditry” which the ACF outlined. There are also allegations that the few job openings available are filled by the children of the elite of a certain part of the country. This, among others, increases the perception of injustice in the land and brews hatred and disaffection for the Nigerian state among the youth and Nigerians as a whole.
While it is a known fact that the government alone cannot accommodate the spiraling figure of the unemployed, the private sector too has remained largely unable to bridge the yawning gap. The argument is that the comatose economy has sapped it of the required financial energy to cater for the unemployment needs of the country. This has left the unemployed youth at the mercy of a society that does not care about them. It goes without saying that the government must be encouraged to look for remedies to the poor economic situation. The damning statistics on unemployment shows that governments at all levels are merely taking the public for a ride. The federal, state and local governments must, by all means possible, create jobs that will take Nigerian youth off the streets and keep them engaged in productive endeavours. The absence of this is what is responsible for the spiraling social crises in the land. Crimes and anti-social behaviours are on the upswing because, responding to that ancient cliché, the youth have become the workshop of the devil who has given them something to do.
The time has come for school curricula to be reviewed. Anachronistic courses and subjects should be weeded off and substituted with those that teach self-employment and independence. We urge governments at all levels to take the ACF’s alarm very seriously, think out of the box and create jobs in their millions. They must address the bad business policies that are currently holding the private sector back. Reinventing the private sector holds the key to massive job creation. The youth must be taken away from the streets and creatively engaged if the government is serious about curbing the country’s innumerable social crises. The unemployment situation is indeed a ticking time bomb.
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