The Unemployment Challenge

Readers of this column may wonder why we delved into the series without first discussing why there is high unemployment in our country.  Is this peculiar to Nigeria? Will this issue be ever addressed? What are possible solutions or remedial measures to be taken by government, individuals (graduates and students alike) and parents? These and many other questions may be in the minds of many. There are several answers to these germane questions and we shall attempt to provide some answers. Over the years societies have developed and grown under various stages of development and systems. Mankind started life in the Stone Age largely living in a solo system i.e. family units as the unit of production and consumption. Whatever families require is grown or produced and consumed by the family. Families are largely agrarian and self-sufficient with their basic needs.

As the population grew the need to interact with one another and between families became apparent. Exchange of goods and services commenced largely through barter trade. Subsequently, mankind realized the limitations in barter trade and thus developed a means of exchange of values through the use of “money” such as metals and manila before the introduction of paper currency.

Prehistoric society lived and achieved full level of employment (with relative underemployment) because everyone was engaged in production and sustained.  However, with industrial revolutions, the use of machines and mankind desires to accumulate worldly things beyond the ability to consume, the introduction of ideological principles such as capitalism and socialism, as well as greed, societies began to experience some form of unemployment amongst the populace. While Socialism posits that full employment is a possibility and indeed a must achievable target or goal, Capitalism, on the other hand, agrees that at certain period and level, full employment is desirable and may be possible but cannot be guaranteed.

In essence, unemployment is a consequence of capitalism although the system believes that certain economic policies can be implemented to minimize unemployment. However, almost at all times, full employment is never possible under a capitalist system.

Nigeria which is largely a capitalist economy is thus suffering from unemployment which is synonymous with all capitalist economies of the world. However, our unemployment is excessively high due largely to several factors some of which are as follows:

The Nigerian economy is experiencing an absence of investments. The economy is not expanding fast enough to cater up with population growth. Indeed, the economy is not growing and foreign direct investment has dried up over the years. New projects are not coming up while existing projects are not experiencing expansion even where a few new projects and or expansion are being noticed, the scale, scope and rate is not commensurate with the size of the workforce in society. Furthermore, our educational system is not helping matters. Graduates from virtually all schools are educated, trained and tailored towards the labour markets instead of being technically equipped for self-employment. Government economic, social and political policies have not helped matters over the years. The ease of doing business, the near absence of adequate and efficient infrastructure, as well as constant policy summersault, affected investor’s confidence to start industries despite an abundance of raw materials and cheap labour in our country.

In general, we also tend to have attitudes challenges. Our ethical and moral standards are low. Character is a major issue in our society. Even when and where you have a pool of talents, you would most likely meet these workforces with a deficiency in character and wrong attitude. The applicants are mostly morally bankrupt, lazy and not willing to learn. Moreover, the children are undisciplined, not trainable.

Moreover, there is a general absence of patriotism at all levels. Government workers who are expected to be patriotic and nationalistic are nowhere near being sympathetic or even emphatic of the current unemployment situation in our land. Jobs that should ordinarily be reserved for nationals of our country are “outsourced” with expatriate quota granted for even the most mundane jobs/positions to foreigners who are considered cheaper.

The unfortunate situation is even the promoters of the local businesses despite obtaining all governmental assistance, grants and or subsidies still do not patronize the Nigerian labour market. Where is the wisdom or rationale of hiring Sudanese, Lebanese and or Indians to manned positions such as Human Resource, Accounts, or Sales and Marketing positions? Even technical as engineering may be given the number of our engineering graduates one cannot see the rationale of hiring basic skills engineers from other climates. Finally, it would be most unfair to direct all issues to either the government or the industrialist as the case may be. The youths also have a share of the blame for the level of our nation’s unemployment.

Quite a number of the youths are generally unemployable. The quality of education has degenerated to an unprecedented level. Most graduates are hardly able to defend their qualifications. The corruption that has eaten deep into the fabric of our society also affects the educational system. Teachers and lecturers alike are known to have compromised their positions thus affecting the quality and standard of the education.

Besides, our penchant for the consumption of foreign products at the expense of Nigerian made goods further compound the problem. Companies that produce items in Nigeria that Nigerians do not buy may have to close shop in absence of demand. Customs officers and the activities of smugglers also add to the unemployment challenge. No industry would survive with the level of massive smuggling in an economy. In general, however, the situation is not beyond redemption. Some graduates are still being able to secure employment despite the acute scarcity of vacancies. Graduates that are opportune to obtain additional training in skills and competencies particularly in areas covered by this column can weather the storm to obtain decent jobs in Nigeria and even abroad. Moreover, some youths also have had the opportunity to be well trained while others have developed entrepreneurship skills and started business thus being self-employed.