Nigeria's current biggest problem is not COVID-19
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My eyes saw him,
A full grown man of about thirty-years,
Garbed in oversized faded shirt and faded blue denim jeans,
So emaciated in body size with his neck as slim as the neck of a deprived chicken,
All the veins in his face shooting out and taking positions where flesh should have occupied.

He was worn out in body and worn out in spirit
He has come to see his elder brother for provisions
Provisions for COVID-19 forced holidays declared by Buhari.

His elder brother, an acquaintance of mine obviously tired of continuous demands from him, Says to me, "Please help me look for job for my younger brother", He is a "maiguard". He studied Political Science at the University and graduated in 2017.
"A maiguard? A graduate of Political Science", the words escaped my mouth in utter disbelief and horror
"Yes a maiguard. There is no work. He has to make do with that." Says his brother.
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The above episode is a real life story.

Before the incidence of COVID-19, Nigeria's unemployment rate was estimated to reach 33% this year from 23% that it recorded last year and which same was confirmed by the current Minister of Labour & productivity, Dr Chris Ngige. Now with the incidence of COVID-19 which was not foreseen as at the time the estimate was made, one can only imagine what our unemployment index will read after COVID-19 incidence.

Did you know that six (6) out of every ten (10) Nigerian graduates that graduated from 2017 till date are totally jobless? Apart from this figure, it is now confirmed that over 40% of Nigerian youths are not doing anything to earn a living. Buhari's government claimed it is implementing a lot of programmes to reduce the unemployment rate in Nigeria yet the figures keep rising by the day.

One major sector of the Nigerian economy that can easily absorb these unemployed youths and also be the panacea for the ugly high rate of unemployment in Nigeria is the Agricultural sector. Agriculture holds the magic wand to the problem of unemployment in Nigeria but this magic wand can only work if the menace of Fulani herdsmen attacks is urgently nibbed in the bud.

While everyone including the government is currently busied with activities to curtail COVID-19, these marauders are still sacking our farming communities mostly located in the North- East, North-West, North-Central and South-West parts of the country.

The federal government and several state governments claim to be implementing a lot of programmes in the agricultural sector in their bids to encourage existing farmers and to also attract unemployed youths to the sector thereby reducing the unemployment rate. However it is apposite to mention that the most important programme that any reasonable government should implement in Nigeria’s agricultural sector is the programme of protecting the lives and properties of farmers. This exactly is what the current Federal government of Nigeria led by President Muhammadu Buhari is not doing with the incessant recurring episodes of Fulani herdsmen attacks on farming communities.

If the lives and properties of those already in the agricultural sector are continued to be seen as lives and properties that do not matter much, if the nefarious activities of Fulani herdsmen- terrorists are not urgently checkmated and these men brought to book, if we continue to witness mass blood-shed of our farming communities, then not only would the massive public funds used in implementing governments' programmes in the Agricultural sector amount to waste, famine will stealthily come upon us and our worst fear- the consequences of having an army of unemployed youths in Nigeria would soon become our worst nightmare.

Indeed, the fears of COVID-19 would be little compared to the kind of havoc that an army of unemployed youths would unleash in Nigeria in a very short time.


By Lawrence C. Nnoli

Why re you talking nonsense? So what is Nigeria 's biggest problem. Any national issues that threaten public life of people is a most pressing issue. Ndu bu isi!!!