term 3 paper final raji
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UNEMPLOYMENT IN NIGERIA: IMPLICATIONS FOR NATIONAL SECURITY
INTRODUCTION
1. Worldwide, the concern for security has become the preoccupation
of every individual, community and nation. This is because security
affects not only the satisfaction of human aspirations, but the fundamental
issue of national survival. It is only under a secure environment that
individuals can engage in productive activities to meet their needs.
Similarly, it is under a secure atmosphere that the state can mobilize its
human and material resources for meaningful development. However,
certain factors affect national security like conflicts, crimes, HIV/AIDS,
poverty, unemployment among others. 1 Threats like these cannot be
completely eliminated; however, the manner they are handled determines
how they can singly or collectively affect a nation.
2. One of the good indicators of national development is ability of a
nation to generate through policies and actions adequate, decent and
gainful employment for the citizenry. 2 Thus the availability on a
sustainable basis of employment opportunities remains one of the
recurring human development challenges for every government.
Employment provides the individual with the means of livelihood and the
opportunity to contribute to the economy of the nation. 3
Employment
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also reduces the number of dependants on the working class and increases
the savings and the investment capacity of the society.
3. Unemployment, on the contrary, cancels out overtime the
impressive contributions gainful employment makes to individuals and
society. 4 In the last 5 years, the robust economic growth worldwide has
failed to translate into significant reductions in unemployment or poverty.
While world productivity increased by 26 per cent, the number of those in
employment rose by only 16.6 per cent. 5 The worlds unemployed today
is over 195 million; much higher than it has ever been. 6 What this
challenge represents is the need to link economic growth to jobs creation.
4. In sub Saharan Africa, most countries have experienced
improvements in macroeconomic indicators in the last 3 years with Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) expanding by an estimated 4.8 per cent in 2006;
however, these improvements have not translated into more employments
in the labour market. 7 Today, there are more unemployed young people
who are new entrants to the labour market chasing after the few available
jobs. It is therefore necessary to explore what current unemployment
trends pose the most concerns, and what their implications on national
security are if not addressed.
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5. In Nigeria today, there is a common tendency to view sectarian
clashes, ethnic disagreements, ethnic militancy or advocacy, political
intimidation, social inequalities, corruption, abysmal poverty, and violent
crimes as the main threats to her security. These are indeed so and they
deserve attention. However, what deserve much more attention are the
young Nigerians who are the instrumentalities of many of these threats.
They are drawn to them mainly because they have no jobs or hope for a
decent one. This paper therefore is an attempt to connect unemployment
to national security generally. It aims specifically to discuss the national
security implications of unemployment in Nigeria with a view to
proffering strategies to reduce it.
SCOPE
6. The paper will cover the following:
a. Conceptual clarifications.
b. Overview of unemployment in Nigeria.
c. Implications of unemployment for Nigerias national
security.
e. Efforts at reducing unemployment in Nigeria.
f. Challenges of reducing unemployment in Nigeria.
g. Strategies of reducing unemployment in Nigeria.
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CONCEPTUAL CLARIFICATIONS
7. It is important to make some conceptual clarifications of the two
key variables in the paper. The concept of unemployment and national
security appears seemingly simple, but each attempt to arrive at mutually
acceptable definitions has led to more complications due to differing
perspectives. It is therefore common to see countries and scholars differ
on what constitute unemployment and what national security shouldmean.
UNEMPLOYMENT
8. According to Fritz, unemployment is the unbalance between
demand and supply of working hours. He asserted that there is historic
trend to utilize less time to produce more thus requiring less working
hours and by extension fewer employees. 8 Fritz concept of
unemployment is restrictive as it concentrates only on the relationship
between the demand and supply of available working hours ignoring
human element that provide it. Pedro on his part conceives
unemployment as the result of balance between two continuous flows; the
flow of potential workers into unemployment i.e. those seeking work but
not finding one; and the outflow of workers from unemployment i.e.
those finding and getting jobs or withdrawing willingly from paid
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employment. 9 Pedros definition would inevitably include
apprentices/interns, volunteers, seasonal workers. This concept may not
give a reliable basis to determine the level of unemployment.
9. ILO views unemployment from three criteria that have to be met
simultaneously; one, categorization as economically active persons above
15 years and older, who are without jobs in a reference period; two,
currently available for work; three, taking active steps to seek paidemployment or self-employment preceding one hour of the survey. 10 The
failure of ILO definition to have an upper age limit for unemployment
presupposes there is no retirement age; a point in time when it is not
feasible to do any work due to old age.
10. In Nigeria unemployment is defined as the proportion of the labour
force aged between 15 70 years that were available and seeking for
work but did not find one in the week preceding a survey period for at
least 39 hours. 11 The Nigerian concept is similar in some respects to that
of the ILO except for the difference in age limit and the time frame
preceding the survey. The Nigerian concept is accordingly adopted
because of its contextual relevance to the paper.
11. The nature of unemployment in most economies can be classified
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into three broad categories; structural, frictional and cyclical. The last two
are transient in character and are more common in sectors of the economy
where labour mobility is relatively high. Structural unemployment on the
other hand is usually long run in nature and originates on the demand side
of labour. Structural unemployment results from economic changes that
cause the demand for specific kinds of labour to be low relative to supply
available. 12 Most unemployed young Nigerians fall into this
classification.
NATIONAL SECURITY
12. Perception of national security is wide and varied. McNamara
posited that national security can only be truly obtained by development,
arguing that:
Security is not military hardware, though it may include it; security isnot miltary force though it may involve it; security is not traditionalmilitary activity though it may encompass it. Security is development,and without development there can be no security .13
He subsequently explained that development in the truest sense means
human, economic, social and political progress. Security, he concluded,
advances human development and well-being. 14 He added further that a
developing nation that does not in fact develop simply cannot remain
"secure". It cannot remain secure for the intractable reason that its own
citizenry cannot shed its human nature. 15
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13. In Obasanjos view, national security is the aggregate of the
security interests of all individuals, communities, ethnic groups, political
entities in affirmation of the importance attached to safety, security and
prosperity of individuals and institutions within and outside Nigeria. 16 He
further asserted that:
National Security is intrinsically linked with the state of the economy.The greatestdanger to national security outside external aggression is individual or communityinsecurity brought about by preventable or avoidable social condition of poverty,unemploymentThese conditions easily lead to indiscipline, loss of trust in authority,
frustration, apathy, desperation, agitation, anarchy, lawlessness and violent conflicts.Every effort must be made to deal effectively with the issue of poverty eradication andunemployment. 17
14. The locus of Obasanjos position is the individual and it aligns in
some ways with that of McNamara. Though separately endowed, it is the
individual that make up groups and communities. It is the ability of the
state to synthesize the interests of the individuals that can promote group
development, well-being and security. Obasanjos definition is therefore
adopted because of his recognition that individual insecurity occasioned
by factors such as unemployment among others takes a big bite out of
national security.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN UNEMPLOYMENT ANDNATIONAL SECURITY
15. Unemployment in a generic sense is a negative human
development index that connects naturally to individual and collective
security. Unemployment diminishes the contribution the affected
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individuals could make to the economy and by inference the
prosperity and general well-being of the state. Rice posited that:
Unemployment leads to poverty and poverty dramatically increases therisk of civil conflict, and war zones provide ideal operating environmentsfor outlaws. Unemployment and poverty erodes weak states capacityto control their people, territory and resources, creating vacuums easilyexploited by criminals, brigands and terrorists. Unemployment and
poverty impedes poor countries ability to detect or contain deadlydisease, and it undermines their ability to grow and develop in security .18
16. Unemployment is a drag on human development and denies the
unemployed especially the youths from bringing their potential energy,
innovative insights and enthusiasm to bear on national march to progress.
Since youth constitute the future of every society and they have the most
to lose if unemployment persists, their prosperity and indeed security may
be put at grave risk if unemployment is not tackled. Herein lays the
connection between unemployment and national security.
OVERVIEW OF UNEMPLOYMENT IN NIGERIA
17. Nigerias labour force is currently estimated at 64 million with a
projected annual growth rate of 2.5%. 19 The composite unemployment
rate in Nigeria peaked at 14.8% in 2003 and declined to 11.8% in 2004
only to rise again to 11.9% in 2005. 20 In real terms, the number of the
unemployed in Nigeria is about 6.9 million. However, the composite
picture belies the increasing unemployment rate among Nigerian youths
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aged between 15-24 years. The rate of unemployment for this age
category stood at 28.9% in 2004 and rose to 34.2% in 2005 translating to
about 2.4 million unemployed youths.21
18. The rapid population growth rate of Nigeria averaging 2.9%
annually in the last decade has hugely altered her labour market because
of influx of young and fresh job aspirants into it. 22 Unemployment level
by educational qualification is 14.4% and 9.8% of Nigerias labour forcein 2005 for secondary school leavers and tertiary institutions graduates
respectively. 23 In 2005, the number of Nigerians in secondary and tertiary
institution is in excess of 1.3 million out of which 20% of them is
projected to join the labour market in 2006. 24 Meanwhile the economic
growth rate for 2006 is 7% with much of it derived from the oil sector
that employs 0.14% of the labour force. 25
19. The last two decades witnessed several deliberate measures taken
particularly by the Federal Government in concert with State and Local
authorities to tackle unemployment and poverty. The thrust of the efforts
were in two broad categories; those designed as intervention mechanism
due to institutional inadequacies and those meant to generate jobs
indirectly through promotion of small and medium businesses. They are:
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Peoples Bank, National Directorate of Employment (NDE), Better Life
for Rural Women, Directorate of Food Roads and Rural Infrastructure
(DFRRI). Others are Family Economic Enhancement Programme
(FEAP), Technical Aid Corps (TAC), National Economic Reconstruction
Fund, Poverty Alleviation Programme, National Poverty Eradication
Programme (NAPEP), Small Medium Enterprises Equity Investment
Scheme (SMEEIS) and National Economic Empowerment Development
Strategy (NEEDS).
20. All these efforts were conceived singly or in interaction by four
successive governments from 1985 to combat poverty and
unemployment. The Peoples Bank, now a defunct micro credit finance
scheme was designed to ease access to credit for the poor and
unemployed. It was followed by others like DFFRI targeted at the rural
areas to boost agriculture and improve rural infrastructure and
consequently generate jobs. These programmes succeeded in varying
degrees to reduce unemployment but the impact was not long lasting and
was also not precisely measurable due to dearth of records.
21. In 1992, Nigeria Agriculture Land Development Agency
(NALDA) was established to open up more arable areas, generate jobs
and raise the Nigerias productive capacity to guarantee food security. 26
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NALDA started well and indeed opened up some new areas for
cultivation but the effort waned. This programme was discontinued in
1999 due to alleged abuses and mismanagement.27
22. Other efforts such as the TAC for young graduates is still ongoing
but has very limited capacity to absorb the teeming graduates from
Nigerias tertiary institutions. FEAP, SMEEIS were set up by different
regimes to ease access to credit for young entrepreneurs. At the end of 2006, only N38.2 billion had accrued to SMEEIS with N17.03 billion
disbursed to various sectors. Agriculture and solid minerals with the
highest potential to generate jobs got the least attention. Other factors
also exacerbated the unemployment situation in Nigeria and they are
discussed in succeeding paragraphs.
CAUSES OF UNEMPLOYMENT IN NIGERIA
23. Nigeria has had chequered economic, political and social fortunes
between the early 80s and the close of 20 th Century. 28 The massive
reduction and unstable flow of oil revenue in the late 80s through to the
late 90s created economic and political uncertainties which in turn led to
economic policy inconsistency by successive governments. Public
spending declined in real terms, businesses closed or collapsed due to
operating difficulties and reduced patronage, Naira was severally
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devalued, resulting in inflation and declining purchasing power of
Nigerians. 29 The consequence of these is the growing unemployment in
Nigeria which is traceable to the factors below.
24. Privatization Policy of the Government . As part of economic
adjustment programme to reduce government direct involvement in
economic activities from 1990, state owned enterprises (SOE) were slated
through the Bureau of Public Enterprises for full or partial privatization
and commercialization. This policy was intended to curb waste,
corruption and mismanagement, improve efficiency, and engender
competition and quality service delivery. 30 Thus far, over 170 SOE have
been privatized, commercialized or concessioned. 31 One of the most
glaring consequence of the privatization policy is the massive lay offs of
workers in many of the companies involved like in NITEL, Nigeria Ports
Authority, Nigeria Airways among others.
25. Poor and Inadequate Infrastructure . Currently in Nigeria,
electricity generation and supply is inadequate, water supply is irregular,
heavy duty transportation like railway is almost non existent, inland water
transport do not function, Port services are chaotic, internet infrastructure
are inadequate and refineries are not working at full capacity. 32 This state
of affairs impacts negatively on big and medium businesses that employ
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labour and undermine employment opportunities for small businesses and
the self employed like artisans. The high cost of providing or augmenting
these infrastructure has forced many businesses to close, reduce or lay off
workers, and dimmed the prospects of new entrants to the labour market
to get employment.
26. Outmoded Educational Curriculum . It is increasingly obvious
that Nigerias educational system is not equipping the youth withadaptive skills relevant to todays labour market .33 The business
environment has changed and producers of goods and services have had
to adjust to survive. Today, Information Communication Technology
(ICT) has permeated all facets of commerce and industry; practical skills
matters more than theoretical knowledge and employers are less inclined
to train job seekers afresh because of the added cost. Thus many
graduates of Nigerian secondary and tertiary institutions have been found
inadequately equipped in the competitive labour market of today.
27. Unfriendly Policy Environment . Nigerias business environment
is not rated as particularly friendly to investors. Multiple taxations by
Federal, State and Local authorities are still common place, tariffs on
imported machinery and raw materials are relatively high, and regulatory
and legal framework and institutions for commerce are lax and prone to
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corrupt manipulation. 34 These constraints impedes regular in-flow of
foreign investment without which the economy is unlikely to grow to
make more jobs available and keep pace with expanding labour force.
28. Difficult Access to Credit . Small businesses have not been
particularly favoured in Nigerias formal financial sector. Interest rates
are high and long term loan facility is hard to get. 35 Stringent
requirements to access credit are difficult to fulfil by small businesses.
The development banks that charge relatively low interest rates are too
bureaucratic. The medium and large businesses that employ relatively
large labour do not also readily access this credit. The few who get the
credit have not faithfully met their repayment obligations. The
consequence is a slow growing economy not at pace with an exploding
labour force.
29. Failure of Employment Generation Schemes . Old micro credit
finance schemes like Peoples Bank, Better Life, FEAP, and PAP did not
impact in the ways they were envisioned. The upscale ones like SMEEIS
became overtime enmeshed in bureaucracy. NEEDS target of
employment generation was also not reached. 36 A combination of the
above affected young entrepreneurs or those who chose to be self
employed. The result is the growing tribe of the unemployed in Nigeria.
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30. High Population Growth Rate . Nigerias population grew from
88.9 million in 1991 to 140 million in 2006. 37 The size of Nigeria's labor
force was difficult to calculate because of the controversy that surrounds
every census data since independence. The labor force increased from
29.4 million in 1983 to over 64 million in 2006. 38 With a population
growth rate close to 3%, the size of the labour force would
correspondingly increase with more people entering the labour market
and competing for fewer jobs. Direct and indirect job creation has not
kept pace with Nigerias population growth rate.
31. Non Diversification of the Economy . Oil is still the main stay of
Nigerias economy contributing over 80% of national revenue with a
0.14% of employed labour force participation. 39 The monoculture
character of the economy has unintentionally stifled growth in other
sectors like agriculture and solid mineral that would have absorbed more
of the labour force. Nigerias agriculture sector currently employs
60.88% of the working population and grew at a lowly pace of 6.5%. 40
Increased attention in non oil sectors is more likely to generate jobs to
make a difference.
32. Rural Urban Migration. The neglect of agriculture due to falling
prices of cash crops, increased enrolment in schools at all levels and
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declining living conditions in rural areas drove young Nigerians from the
rural to urban centres. 41 In 2005, the rural areas had higher unemployment
rate at 12.6% against 10.1% for the urban labour force. The secondary
school leavers in the rural areas without jobs stand at 15.8% against 11%
for the urban areas. 42 This is expected to continue to magnify
unemployment in urban areas.
IMPLICATIONS OF UNEMPLOYMENT FOR NIGERIASNATIONAL SECURITY
33. In the past several years, unemployment has remained a constant
feature of Nigerias national security concern. Unemployment has
national security implications for the factors discussed below.
34. Social Equilibrium And Harmony. In the last 8 years or so,
there have been much sectarian and ethnic turmoil in Nigeria. 43 These
have led to heavy toll in human casualties. Many of these were caused by
seemingly minor incidents that eventually took ethnic or religious
colourations. These incidences have resulted in the breakdown of law and
order, threatened social order, negatively affected international image of
Nigeria, and heightened mutual suspicion amongst Nigerians. 44 Poverty
and youth unemployment had been found to be the instrumentalities of
these threats to Nigerias national security.
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35. Psychological Effects . A lack of decent work, if experienced at
an early age, often permanently compromises a persons future
employment prospects and frequently leads to unsuitable behaviour
patterns that last a lifetime. 45 The inability to find employment over a
long period of time creates a psychological sense of vulnerability,
uselessness and idleness among young people. They become indifferent
and prone to extreme conduct like violence which in turns lead to
crimes. 46 Unemployment and poverty impede the ability of those affected
to pay for basic needs like healthcare to treat preventable diseases. This
increases their vulnerability to other deadly ones that could spread and
undermine the nations human security. 47
36. Economic Growth And Development. According to the ILO,
capturing productive potential of the labour force especially the youth is
an economic imperative. It is also important to focus on youth because
they are the drivers of economic development. The youth that is
unemployed is a costly undertaking to the nation and its economy. 48 They
would not be contributing to the economic well-being of the society
through productivity, savings and taxes. It would also mean that their
aggregate demand for goods and services would be less than when they
are gainfully employed.
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37. Dependence Syndrome . The dependence of the unemployed
those employed reduces the aggregate accumulation of capital for future
investment. Unemployment leads to lower contributions to national
pensions scheme and government is forced to spend more on remedial
services, including crime or drug use prevention efforts. All the above
cumulatively threatens the development potential of the economy and by
extension the nation itself. Reducing unemployment, therefore, makes
sense to a country from a costs-benefits point of view because of the
economic implications.
38. Political Stability. Domestically, the inability of government
to successfully tackle unemployment may lead to loss of confidence in
state institutions. 49 This may in turn make national mobilization difficult
in times of emergencies or crisis. It could also lead to severe set backs
during elections as those unemployed are likely to become political thugs
and ready tools in the hands of unscrupulous politicians. The social and
economic implications earlier mentioned could together if not well
managed cause political instability which is a threat to national security.
39. Rural Urban Migrations . Unemployment in Nigeria has led
like elsewhere to poverty and poverty dramatically increases the risk of
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civil conflict as witnessed in many ethnic disturbances. 50 Rural urban
migrations of educated unemployed youths provide fertile environments
for their recruitment by politicians and criminal gangs as thugs, ethnic
militants and hired assassins respectively. 51 Rural urban migrations due to
unemployment in rural Nigeria erodes the capacity of the Nigerian Police
to control rapidly expanding cities, satellite settlements and slums thus
creating vacuums easily exploited by criminals.
40. Nature of Future Conflict . The increasing concentration of
unemployed in ethnic and sectarian enclaves in urban centres may
gradually change the nature and outcome of future conflict. 52 More often
than not, migrants tend to stay with their kith and kin. In Nigeria it has
given rise to the menace of ethnic militants like Oduduwa Peoples
Congress, MASSOB, and others. In the last 8 years, more than 90% of
ethnic or sectarian violence in Nigeria had taken place in urban areas. 53
After the 2001 ethno-sectarian turmoil in Jos, the city settlement pattern
changed. 54
CURRENT EFFORTS AT REDUCING UNEMPLOYMENT INNIGERIA
41. As at today, only the NDE had verifiably recorded 542,854 as
beneficiaries of its programme from 2002 to 2006. 55 The others like TAC,
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SMEEIS, NAPEP and NEEDS have survived. The cumulative impact of
these programmes and policies on employment generation with the
exception of TAC and SMEEIS is difficult to objectively determine
because no reliable data of the beneficiaries of the schemes are readily
available.
42. Nigerias NEEDS in 2004 sought amongst other objectives to
reduce poverty and generate 7 million employments for Nigerians by2007. 56 This was to be achieved by creating the environment in which
businesses can thrive and new livelihood opportunities can be exploited
by all. 57 Given the 2006 unemployment level of 11.8% for a slightly
larger labour force and the projection for the first quarter of 2007 is about
the same level, it would appear that the cardinal objective of creating
substantial jobs in 2007 has not been met.
CHALLENGES OF REDUCING UNEMPLOYMENT IN NIGERIA
43. The challenges of reducing unemployment in Nigeria are derived
from some of the causes and implications of unemployment in Nigeria
previously explained. The key challenges are:
a. Diversifying Nigerias economy from dependence on oil as
its mainstay to a labour intensive non oil one.
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b. Insufficient investment to modernize and expand Nigerias
deteriorating infrastructure like power, water, transportation
networks, and so on.
c. Inadequacies of Nigerias educational system in equipping
its products suitably for the 21 st Century labour market.
d. Nigerias high population growth rate and increasing number
of new entrants to the labour market without commensurate
employment opportunities.
e. Shrinking employment opportunities in the rural areas
especially for young school leavers.
f. Absence of reliable and enduring database for the
unemployed at all levels and in all locations around Nigeria.
g. Relatively high cost of borrowing and inadequate access to
micro credits by small and medium businesses in Nigerias formal
financial sector.
STRATEGIES TO REDUCE UNEMPLOYMENT IN NIGERIA
44. Past attempts to generate employment and fight poverty
concurrently, have not succeeded as intended for many reasons. This is
why the proposed strategies seek to move from isolated approach to more
broad based and integrated ones that emphasize coordination.
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45. Accurate Data Collection. One of the reasons for the failure
of past and current employment generation efforts is the absence of
accurate statistics of the unemployed. There is no evidence of coordinated
data collection effort on the part of various government agencies such as
National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Federal and States Ministry of
Labour, and so on. There is a need now to decentralize data collection
effort down to Ward level to register the unemployed. All tiers of government should create employment bureau where the unemployed
would be registered as a routine. The data generated could on a regular
basis be channeled to central agency.
46. Encourage Innovative Financial Solutions. The key to
wealth creation beyond employment lies with how financial institutions
play in the market. These institutions together control a big chunk of the
nations financial assets. They can be encouraged through tax relief to
leverage these assets to provide capital goods like machineries, office
equipment for new businesses involving young Nigerians through hire
purchase or leasing schemes. This would improve access to credit for
new businesses and in turn generate employments.
47. Increased Investment In Non Oil Sector. In Nigeria, agriculture
and manufacturing sectors put together employs almost 63% of her
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working population. 58 Current multi-sector employment generation
programmes like NDE, NAPEP and NEEDS have proved to be expensive
and cumbersome to manage. Resources are difficult to concentrate and
the expertise needed to cover many sectors simultaneously creates
avoidable bureaucracy. If employment generation efforts are focused on
specific sectors and locations, money can be saved and the probability of
success increased than if inadequate resources are spread thinly across
many sectors.
48. Improvement Of Infrastructure. Many businesses in Nigeria
lay off workers or produce at relatively high cost because power outages
are frequent, public water supply is irregular, transportation facilities are
ill maintained, and telecommunications services are inadequate and
chaotic. There is an urgent need for massive investment by the
government and private sector to improve and expand Nigerias
infrastructure. This would lead to lower cost of production for businesses,
more locally made goods and services would be produced and more
workers would remain in employment.
49. Reform Education Curricula In Schools. The inadequacies of
Nigerias educational system as currently organized and run puts close to
1.2 million young people without employable skill to Nigerias labour
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market yearly. There is a need to reform the education curricula so that
vocational and practical technical skills are given priority.
50. Development Of Employment Programmes . The several
employment generation programmes have not achieved the intended
goals. There is a need to review them and develop a new one that would
integrate the existing ones. This will eliminate duplications of functions
and save cost. Integration of all the programmes particularly at the
Federal level would keep effort focused and make management and
monitoring easier.
CONCLUSION
51. The paper sought to establish the link between unemployment and
national security with a view to how this affects Nigeria. The paper
specifically assessed unemployment in Nigeria drawing on contemporary
data within and outside Nigeria to establish an empirical foundation. The
paper subsequently brought three key issues out; the causes of
unemployment in Nigeria, the efforts made to reduce unemployment and
the national security implications of unemployment as it were on Nigeria.
Unemployment in Nigeria was discovered to have been complicated
partly by the policies and actions of government at all levels and partly by
factors like high population growth rate outside its control.
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52. The major causes of unemployment in Nigeria were traced to the
government privatization policy that led to massive layoffd; failure and
inadequacies of many intervention programmes such as Peoples Bank,
Better Life for Rural Women, DFRRI, FEAP, SMEEIS, NALDA, TAC,
NDE, NAPEP and NEEDS. Other causes were the unfriendly policy
environment for businesses to thrive, outmoded educational system that
turned out people largely without employable skills, inadequate and poor
infrastructure like power to support economic growth.
53. The implications of unemployment to Nigerias national security
are many and they were grouped accordingly into social, economic,
political and security considerations. The challenges of unemployment in
Nigeria were identified as recurring inability to diversify her economic
foundations from dependence on oil, failure to attract investment in
infrastructure, the inadequacies of her educational system, high
population growth, difficulty in reversing rural urban drift and high cost
of borrowing for businesses.
54. The strategies proffered to overcome the challenges of
unemployment in Nigeria include sustainable generation of accurate
unemployment data to assist in planning and execution of employment
programmes and policies, increased attention and investment in non oil
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sectors like agriculture and manufacturing. Other strategies are the urgent
improvement and expansion of infrastructure, reform of educational
curricula in favour of practical skills acquisition in secondary and tertiary
institutions and the integration of all employment generation programmes
to direct efforts to the most needed areas.
RECOMMENDATIONS
55. It is recommended that:
a. A dedicated unemployment data collection agency should be
established by Federal, State and Local governments.
b. All tiers of government should directly and indirectly
increase investment in sectors with the highest potential for labour
demand like agriculture and the solid mineral.
c. The Federal government in cooperation with other tiers
should create the friendly policy environment to attract investment
for resuscitation and expansion of infrastructure like power.
d. All tiers of government should undertake the reform of
curricula in secondary and tertiary schools to promote employable
skill acquisition.
e. Existing employment generation programmes should be
integrated to achieve better results.
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available at www.oldcolo.com/Mcnamara/mcnamara.txt accessed on22 Jun 2007.
14. Ibid.
15. Ibid.
16. Olusegun Obasanjo, Grand Strategy for National Security ,(Abuja: State House, 2001), p.1.
17. Ibid., pp. 6-9.
18. Susan E Rice, The National Security Implications of Global
Poverty , a speech at the University of Michigan Law School on 30January 2006 available at www.brookings.edu/scholars/srice.htm accessed on 27 Jun 2007.
19. The World Bank, World Development Indicators 2006 ,(Washington DC: The World Bank Group, 2006), p.51
20. National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria, Op. Cit. , p.35.
21. Ibid.,
22. National Population Commission, Nigeria, Report of 2006 NationalCensus, (Abuja: 2007).
23. National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria, Op. Cit. p.36.
24. Ibid., p.33.
25. Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN Annual Report for the Year 2006 ,(Abuja: 2007), available atwww.cenbank.org/documents/annualreports.asp accessed on 29 Jun2007.
26. Federal Government of Nigeria, National Agricultural LandDevelopment Agency Decree No12, 1992, (Abuja: 1992).
27. NALDA, Final Report August 1999 cited in RA OseneUnemployment and National Security: Implications for
28
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Nigeria(Unpublished, 2005), National War College, Course 13, Abuja, p.39.28. TM Yesufu, Op. Cit., p.32.
29. Ibid.,
30. Bureau of Public Enterprises, Nigeria, Rationale forPrivatization , (Abuja: 2006),
31. Ibid .,
32. The World Bank, World Development Indicators 2006 ,( Washington: Development Data Center, The World Bank, 2006),
pp.150-162.33. United Nations Development Programme, Human DevelopmentReport 2006 , (New York: UNDP, 2006), p.56.
34. The World Bank, World Development Indicators 2006 , p.275.
35. National Planning Commission, Nigeria, National EconomicEmpowerment and Development Strategy , (Abuja, 2004), p.xv.
36. National Planning Commission, Nigeria, Op. Cit. , pp.xxiv-xxv.
37. Federal Government Official Gazette No. 24 Vol. 94 dated 15 May2007 titled Legal Notice and Publication of Details of the breakdown of the National and State Provisional Totals of 2006 Census.
38. National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria, Op. Cit., p. 47.
39. Ibid., p.48.
40. Ibid., p.47.
41. TM Yesufu, Op. Cit.,
42. Ibid., p.35.
43. Shehu Sani, The Killing Fields: Religious Violence in NorthernNigeria , (Ibadan: Spectrum Books Limited, 2007), p. 61-192.
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44. Ibid., p.193 .
45. International Labour Office, Global Employment Trends forYouths 2007, (Geneva: ILO,2007), p.7.
46. R Omotosho, The Psychological Effects of Unemployment in Nigeria , (Lagos: Malthouse, 2002) cited in RA Osene, Unemploymentand National Security: Implications for Nigeria , (Unpublished, 2005)
being a project submitted at the National War College, Course 13, Abuja.
47. Susan Rice, Op. Cit.
48. Ibid.
49. Olusegun Obasanjo, Op. Cit ., p.6.
50. Shehu Sani, Op. Cit. p.51.
51. Adedayo A Adeoye, Unemployment and Rising Crime Rate:Causes and the Way Out being a lecture presented to Senior ExecutiveCourse No. 29 of The National Institute, Kuru on 17 May, 2007, p. 8.
52. Brian Nichiporuk, The Security Dynamics of DemographicFactors , (Washington: Rand Publications, 2000),p.19.
53. Shehu Sani, Op. Cit ., p. 110.
54. Ibid., p.48.
55. Adedayo A Adeoye, Op. Cit ., p. 3.
56. National Planning Commission, Nigeria, Op. Cit. , p.ix.
57. Ibid., p.xv.
58. Ibid., p.48.
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1 Pierre-Richard Agnor, Unemployment and Poverty Trade Off, (Washington: The World Bank, 2004), p.3.
2 TM Yesufu, The Human Factor in National Development: Nigeria , (Ibadan: Spectrum Books limited, 2000), p.63.3
James D Wolfensohn, A New Global Balance: The Challenge of Leadership , an address to the Board of Governors of the World Bank Group at the Joint Annual discussion in Dubai, UAE on 23 Sep 2003 available athttp://econ.worldbank.org4 Pierre-Richard Agnor, Op. Cit .5 Juan Somavia, Director General of International Labour Office (ILO) in Global Employment Trends 2007,(Geneva: 2007),6 Ibid.7 Ibid.8 Walter Fritz, Unemployment: Causes and Solutions , (New York: New Horizon Press, 2006), p.1. available athttp://www.intelligent-systems.com.ar/intsyst/unemploy.htm accessed 10 June 2007.9 I Pedro, MBA Module 721 Macroeconomics (Unemployment) , (Lagos: National Open University of Nigeria,2004), p.1.10 International Labour Office, International Training Compendium on Labour Statistics , (Geneva: Bureau of Statistics, 2006), p.41.11 National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria, The Nigeria Statistical Fact Sheets on Economic and SocialDevelopment, (Abuja: 2006), p.3512 Ansel M Sharp et al, Economics of Social Issues , (Illinois: Business Incorporations Inc, 1998), pp. 313-314.
13 Robert McNamara, in a speech titled Security in the Contemporary World as US Secretary of Defence before theAmerican Society of Newspaper Editors in Montreal, Canada on 18 May 1966 available atwww.oldcolo.com/Mcnamara/mcnamara.txt accessed on 22 Jun 2007.14 Ibid.15 Ibid.16 Olusegun Obasanjo, Grand Strategy for National Security , (Abuja: State House, 2001), p.1.17 Ibid., pp. 6-9.18 Susan E Rice, The National Security Implications of Global Poverty , a speech at the University of MichiganLaw School on 30 January 2006 available at www.brookings.edu/scholars/srice.htm accessed on 27 Jun 2007.19 The World Bank, World Development Indicators 2006 , (Washington DC: The World Bank Group, 2006), p.5120 National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria, Op. Cit. , p.35.21
Ibid.,22 National Population Commission, Nigeria, Report of 2006 National Census, (Abuja: 2007).23 National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria, Op. Cit. p.36.24 Ibid., p.33.25 Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN Annual Report for the Year 2006 , (Abuja: 2007), available atwww.cenbank.org/documents/annualreports.asp accessed on 29 Jun 2007.26 Federal Government of Nigeria, National Agricultural Land Development Agency Decree No12, 1992, (Abuja:1992).27 NALDA, Final Report August 1999 cited in RA Osene Unemployment and National Security: Implications for
Nigeria(Unpublished, 2005), National War College, Course 13, Abuja, p.39.28 TM Yesufu, Op. Cit., p.32.29 Ibid.,30 Bureau of Public Enterprises, Nigeria, Rationale for Privatization , (Abuja: 2006),31
Ibid .,32 The World Bank, World Development Indicators 2006 , ( Washington: Development Data Center, The WorldBank, 2006), pp.150-162.33 United Nations Development Programme, Human Development Report 2006 , (New York: UNDP, 2006), p.56.34 The World Bank, World Development Indicators 2006 , p.275.35 National Planning Commission, Nigeria, National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy ,(Abuja, 2004), p.xv.36 National Planning Commission, Nigeria, Op. Cit. , pp.xxiv-xxv.37 Federal Government Official Gazette No. 24 Vol. 94 dated 15 May 2007 titled Legal Notice and Publication of Details of the breakdown of the National and State Provisional Totals of 2006 Census.38 National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria, Op. Cit., p. 47.
http://www.intelligent-systems.com.ar/intsyst/unemploy.htmhttp://www.brookings.edu/scholars/srice.htmhttp://www.cenbank.org/documents/annualreports.asphttp://www.cenbank.org/documents/annualreports.asphttp://www.intelligent-systems.com.ar/intsyst/unemploy.htmhttp://www.brookings.edu/scholars/srice.htmhttp://www.cenbank.org/documents/annualreports.asp -
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39 Ibid., p.48.40 Ibid., p.47.41 42 Ibid., p.35.43 Shehu Sani, The Killing Fields: Religious Violence in Northern Nigeria , (Ibadan: Spectrum Books Limited,2007), p. 61-192.44 Ibid., p.193 .45 International Labour Office, Global Employment Trends for Youths 2007, (Geneva: ILO,2007), p.7.46 R Omotosho, The Psychological Effects of Unemployment in Nigeria , (Lagos: Malthouse, 2002) cited in RAOsene, Unemployment and National Security: Implications for Nigeria , (Unpublished, 2005) being a project submittedat the National War College, Course 13, Abuja.47 Susan Rice, Op. Cit.48 Ibid.49 Olusegun Obasanjo, Op. Cit ., p.6.50 Shehu Sani, Op. Cit. p.51.51 Adedayo A Adeoye, Unemployment and Rising Crime Rate: Causes and the Way Out being a lecture presentedto Senior Executive Course No. 29 of The National Institute, Kuru on 17 May, 2007, p. 8.
52 Brian Nichiporuk, The Security Dynamics of Demographic Factors , (Washington: Rand Publications,2000),p.19.53 Shehu Sani, Op. Cit ., p. 110.54 Ibid., p.48.55 Adedayo A Adeoye, Op. Cit ., p. 3.56 National Planning Commission, Nigeria, Op. Cit. , p.ix.57 Ibid., p.xv.58 Ibid., p.48.