CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the study

Nigeria is bedeviled by a myriad of problems which, despite her oil wealth, inhibit her development and even threaten her continued existence as a sovereign state. Nigeria’s sociopolitical and economic circumstances give the significant indication that many of her problems stem from an origin of artificial colonial construct which lumped together a variety of separate peoples. Fragmentation of the nation is seen as a distinct possibility unless its citizens can be induced to accept a new sense of Nigerian identity, involving a commitment to the survival of the present state as a cohesive entity. This would necessitate a number of radical changes, not only in the political and economic structure of the country but also in the psychology of the people. Nigerians have lived through series of administrations under different governments, and the question still arises, ‘is Nigeria a nation at all?’ A critical look at what the government calls reform reveals a personally instituted concept of governance, filling the seats of power with those they believe to be their kin, rather than have professionals in the positions of merit, and a breed of people typified by their integrity of heart, ingrained in the trainings and qualifications they have received in the course of service to the nation.

The increasing number of those who are not gainfully employed or adequately educated in the country, remain preys as political tools of violence as it has been seen in the history of violence occurring in the country over a period of time. The country has depended much on oil as its major source of revenue for years, however, the current administration also fails to recognize that the future of the country may very well depend on the economy of its people (the youths), which is possibly the only untapped, ill harnessed, most lucrative resource of the country. If it remains this way in the next ten years, putting into consideration the effect of increased poverty, lack of employment, poor educational system, it is unpredictable what the result will be.

The table below shows the statistical data of the rate of unemployment and the population rate from 2006 to 2011 in Nigeria. It is the result of a survey carried out by the National Bureau of Statistics and shows that persons aged 0--14 years constituted 39.6%, those aged between 15 ‐ 64 (the economically active population), constituted 56.3%, while those aged 65 years and above constituted 4.2%. Analysis of employment data for the past 5 years show that the rate of new entrants into the labour market has not been uniform in the past five years. The rate was on the increase from 2007 to 2009 but declined significantly from 2009 to 2010. The rate increased again from 2010 to 2011. Within the five year period, there has been an average of about 1.8 million new entrants into the active labour market per year.

Evidence from a range of sources including the report of the National Committee on Job Creation and Putting Nigeria to Work (World Bank 2010) reveals that the biggest drivers of Nigeria’s current youth unemployment crises are: - Lack of jobs - Lack of skills and experience - Mismatch between supply and demand for labour - Numerous barriers to youth entrepreneurship Plethora of job creation interventions in the public, private and nonprofit sectors, including Nigerian Directorate of Employment (NDE), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), only reaching fewer than 100,000 youths a year. These initiatives struggle to transform the lives of Nigerian youth because of their: - Limited scope and scale - Limited focus on the unique needs of young Nigerians - Poor collaboration and cooperation across the sectors - Outdated and theoretical training models.

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