Over the years, and in the build up to the 2015 presidential elections, one of the many issues that has always dominated discussions is the issue of lingering unemployment in Nigeria.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, over 57 percent of Nigerian youths are unemployed. And the tendency for this figure to rise is ever present. With depleting foreign reserves, fall in global oil price and a lot of other damning economic challenges, the unemployment rate in Nigeria, according to analysts, could only get worse.
Over sixty percent of the graduates of universities and polytechnics annually troop into Lagos and Abuja in search of jobs that do not exist.The manufacturing sector in Nigeria that should absorb young, willing and educated youths, according to analysts, has collapsed where it once existed.
The central development planning and economic policy since 1999, has been about the removal of the role of the states in economic development and job creation under the slogan of allowing the market to take care of economic development.
Government according to analysts has continued to pay more attention to creating an enabling environment for the private sector, than strategising how to absorb the teeming unemployed populace into its work force.
From a critical study, it is evident that the rate of under employment is even more pervasive than unemployment itself. There are so many Nigerians who are even within the ‘employment circle’, but are not actually better off with their meagre earnings. The number of this category of underemployed people are ever-increasing.
According to Mathew Obiora, a private employer, in the absence of the availability of jobs, people often jump at the opportunity to get their hands dirty just to earn a living. But in most cases, Obiora explained that the standard of those jobs are usually very poor.
The definition of an unemployed person and how unemployment is measured, which varies from place to place, has always been a subject of intense debate. Some countries count insured unemployed only, some count those who receive welfare benefits only, while in some parts it is the disabled and other permanently unemployable people. Some countries count those who choose (and are financially able) not to work, supported by their spouses and caring for a family, some count students at college and others use household surveys to estimate, each with its own strengths and weaknesses.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO), also uses household surveys in estimating the number of unemployed. The ILO states that unemployment refers to those who are currently not working but are willing and able to work for pay, currently available to work, and have actively searched for work.
This definition, however, puts a spin to what the results of job creation survey in Nigeria would be; due to the social make-up of the Nigerians. A recent study by the Gates Foundation and the Clinton Foundation showed that Nigerian women lead the pack of female entrepreneurs in the world and are four times more likely to become entrepreneurs than their counterparts in the US.
Many have argued that the reasons for this is because a totally unemployed person in Nigeria has little or no access to any form of welfare whatsoever.
While the US and many developed nations have unemployment benefits and other social security income for their citizens, the social safety nets in Nigeria simply don’t exist.
According to Obiora, there is a marginal window of hope for an unemployed person in Nigeria. “You either work, or you starve,” he said.
And this ‘work’ per say, could be ‘anything’.
According to a 2014 report by the World Bank entitled ‘Nigeria Economic Report’, Nigeria’s employment challenge is more of under employment rather than unemployment.
Presenting the report, the Lead Economist and Acting Country Manager, World Bank, Mr. John Litwack, said the analysis of the bank showed that poverty reduction in Nigeria was primarily an urban phenomenon as poverty remained high in the rural areas.
“This masks the critical problem in Nigeria of underemployment. Most Nigerians cannot afford not to work, but a large share of the population is engaged in low productivity and low paying tasks,” he said.
According to Edafe Mark, CEO of Global Consult Resources, the Nigerian environment doesn’t create much room for someone to remain unemployed for too long.
“With the lack of a government package for the unemployed, and with the social stigma associated with unemployment, you find more of underemployed people than the unemployed. And this is just as dangerous,” he said.
“Of course, hunger doesn’t allow people to remain totally unemployed for too long. But the question is for how long can we continue to have underemployed people? If someone is underemployed for five years, that is a very negative indication of our sum growth as a nation. Because that person certainly has the abilities to be more creative and productive, but he or she is denied the opportunity. So it is not just a personal concern, it is a national one as well,” he added.
Abu Mayaki, a private sector analyst, says that he encounters one unemployed person to every five employed persons, as he executes activities. He believes that more should be done to improve the quality of jobs in the country, as more and more people are falling into the under employment numbers, all in the name of finding jobs.
“About two of the security guards in my office are graduates who are earning very little. Of course they hope to get better jobs, but that the definition makes them employed, even though they are underused, is just unacceptable.” he said.
In all of this, the unanimous resolution of many is that both under employment and more importantly, unemployment, be stamped out in Nigeria.
“Contract staffing and precarious work is a major problem besetting decent work and social justice in the Nigerian work environment. The shift away from regular employment into temporary work or jobs through agencies and labour brokers is having a deep impact on all workers, their families, and on the society,” said Mayaki.
“Erosion of the employee-employer relationship, often the basis of labour law, is leading directly to a growing number of violations of workers’ rights. So, while Nigeria continues to focus on reducing the unemployment rate, a bigger and more pertinent challenge of under employment continues to stare it in the face,” he added
