As a student, I still have the fear of tomorrow after graduation if one could get a
job or die while searching for non-existing vacancy.
In fact, as many have lately observed, we are now sitting on a time-bomb
when millions are unemployed. A 2012 survey by the National Bureau of
Statistics put Nigeria’s youth unemployment figure at 54 percent. This means
one out of every two young people who should be gainfully employed is
unemployed. That’s frustrating and scary.
*Applicants at the Nigeria Immigration Service test held at the 60,000
capacity National Stadium, Abuja. Photo: Abayomi Adeshida
Imagine over 693,000 applicants all over the nation chasing 4,500 jobs in the
Nigeria immigration service , out of which 19 died at the test and hundreds
fainted from stampede and exhaustion. They came looking for jobs, in a country
that has mastered the art of hoarding jobs. They found death instead of the
jobs. Many horrible pictures and videos from the incidents across the federation
went viral. There is therefore a lot of condemnations over the exercise.
There are many questions demanding answers: How will the families of the
victims be compensated? what is the future of our unemployed youths? What is
government doing to address unemployment in the country?
Government needs to recognise the plight of unemployed graduates and not
waste time and money on issues that are not important to the development of
this country. We are not unmindful of the fact that President Goodluck Jonathan
has rolled out a number of programmes to tackle unemployment, like YouWin
and the SURE-P Scheme among others which are yet to provide the necessary
infrastructure for their tenability. There is also a Nigerian Youth Employment
Action Plan, NIYEAP, which was launched under President Yar’Adua in 2009 but
is stillborn. The efforts have been negligible compared to the scale of the
problems on the ground. Of course the Federal Government should not take all
the blame for unemployment woes. The states and local governments must also
take responsibilities on job creation.
Meanwhile, government at all levels should evolve a programme or a system
that could be called YouthFund where it can provide grant or soft loans as
capitals to youth to start up an enterprise. With such gestures the beneficiaries
would be able to fend for themselves and reduce the rate of crime and other
menace caused by idleness of the unemployed youths.
There is no big deal working with government as there are innovative schemes
which youths could benefit from and become independent and render services to
the society at large. The youths should also take advantage of acquisition skills
provided by the government to be self-employed and contribute meaningfully to
various sectors of the economy.
The unemployed graduates shouldn’t be over ambitious in the sense of wanting
to make it ‘big time’ but they could start from any small-scale business to
fend for themselves. By the way what is wrong in farming or driving a cab and
even street cleaning for legitimate income. For sure, such jobs which some may
considered odds are far better than robbery, prostitutions and criminal activities.
Meanwhile, considering the condemnations trailing the immigration recruitment
exercise which resulted in the death and injury of some of the applicants,
government should provide compensation for the families of the victims as well
as reschedule the repeat of the exercise that could be easily done online.
*Master Yushau-Shuaib is of the Mass Communication Department, Baze
University, Abuja
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