To prove his line
of thought wrong, research by the national bureau of statistic put the
unemployment rate in Nigeria at 23.9 per cent, meaning that population of 165 million
citizens, Nigeria has about 40 million unemployed citizens and there have been
all averages of 1-8 million new entrances into the active labor market every
year. Statistics show that only quarter of that population join payroll at the
end of each year leaving the vast majority of the graduates on hot seat
struggling for survival. Then Mr. President what impact would increasing the
number of universities has been given zero tolerance by the government?
It is of course an
indisputable reality that the unemployment saga is the root course that fans
the flames of the insecurity situation of the country to that worrisome level. Frustration
among young job seekers brain wash them to have zero tolerance to morality and
legality while struggling for a living. Their priority is just to earn money by
hook or crook. Issue of job selectivity by job seekers is nothing to write home
about.
Job selectivity is
only available to children of our leaders at the helms of affairs. You will do agree
with me that job known to have no certificate pre-requisite; job to known
before to be served for illiterates and savages with no educational experience has
been eventually taken over by graduates. If you will be honest to yourself you
will appreciate the fact that today in your society you will hardly distinguish
illiterates from graduates by their virtue and nature of jobs. In two decades
ago, taxi driving and okada riding were known to be occupation of illiterates and
the less privileged but today what we have on deck is just a paradox, 40
percent of keke napep riders, taxi drivers and okada riders in the state
capitals and outskirts are graduates because their certificates have failed to
put meals on their tables.
Just recently a business
tycoon, Aliko Dangote advertised vacancy on the media in respect to employment
of his company drivers, he stipulate 1st degree as the per-requisite
for the employment, there was serious outcry by the less privilege in the
country asking for the job left for their standard and caliber. In their
greatest surprise, graduate with second degree dominated the interview and zero
tolerance has been posed to first degree graduates that attended the interview.
Tell me this type of paradox of life! If graduate with second degree will be
chauffer, then what is the job left for a secondary school graduates and illiterates?
Mr. President you
are hiding behind building universities as the strategy for declining
insecurity to breast level, you forgot that un employment has been politicize
and found to be expensive commodity that only few afford it and being a
graduate do no longer automatically put a meal on a person's table in a
society. Advertising vacancy by government for mass employment has succeeded in
disappearing in our society, I forget when last I heard advertisement for mass
employment in our society, before you realized you will hear somebody closed to
you has gotten job. Merit and paper qualification which used to be the criteria
and per-requisite for employment has been virtually thrown overboard due to the
influence of the newly adopted system of recruitment that is characterized by
nepotism, cronyism, and bravery which are very alien in our society. Today in
our society before you will get job you will directly or in-directly involve
what is called “Nigerinism” you will either give money or involve a godfather
no matter the nature of job.
I was depressed to
hear somebody last year in my local government asking for bribe of N15’000 over
vacancy of N5000. See for God sake how corruption has eaten deeply into the
body of fabric of our nation. Believe you me, it is this situation that is
provoking most of our youths to take part time job of insure members are not illiterates,
they are advocate derelicts deploy for insurgency and terrorism as a result of
idleness. Interrogations of arrested Boko Haram members by security personnel
and confections made by repented Boko Haram shows that only few of the members
are not graduates, the vast majority of them are graduates some with even
master’s degree.
When Boko Haram
first came on board, it was all over the media that some of their members have
burnt and destroyed their university certificates in Bauchi and Borno. Although
there was no follow up report by media or security personnel that some have willingly
retried and resigned from their offices. This is clear evidence and indication
to cite that Boko Haram are not salary earners but hopeless universities graduates
who have been frustrated by the trouble of labor market. I could remember last
year (2013) Boko Haram members were bold enough to come over the media to beg
for dialogue with federal government to grant them amnesty as it was done with Niger-Delta militants so
that they can pull back their swords and their living from government treasury.
The act of seeking for amnesty by them showcases that poverty and UN employment
are their major concern.
Take countries that
employment automatically for graduates as a reference to a case point, you will
hardly hear of insurgency and terrorism, kidnapping for ransom and armed
robbery among youths because government has engaged them in a wealth creation
and carry source of living for their people. But the situation of Nigeria is
quite pathetic and a direct paradox of the reference to the case stated above,
in Nigeria a person will finish his 1st and 2nd degree without
getting job. Of course is this unemployment crisis that is encouraging social
vices currently hitting the nation, Most of the victims of this circumstance have
resort to it because they have no option. Recently a commercial sex worker with
university certificate was lamenting over the media that it is unemployment
that push her to the business. She reiterated that many officers and government
fat cats went to bed with her with an agreement to compensate her with job, but
after satisfying their selfish desire they dumped her. Mr. President if you don’t
know better know it today, the dwellers of hard drugs in our country are graduates
from health school who graduates without job.
Therefore pointing
accusing fingers across, from federal government to state government to state
government, from state government back to federal government as the root of the
situation at stake will not fetch a lasting solution to the problem in
question. To this issue finally, both federal government and state government
should put their hand on deck and stop trading blames that has no positive impact.
Federal government should penetrate to the root of these crises through state
government by creating job opportunities to youths. Malpractice during job recruitment
exercise such as nepotism, cronyism and bribery should be tackled by the
government making it free and fair devoid of all vices. Federal government
should build new industries and companies so that both under privileged will
make a good living. Federal government should also embark on granting grants to
jobless youths with zeal of business enterprise. If federal and state
governments will react to unemployment, for sure, insurgency will be a history
for the next generation. Mr. President
Culled from SCOPE
