Considering the great number of People living in Nigeria today, I can guess that the unemployment level in the nearest future will be too high for Nigerians to handle.

I want my fellow Nairaland users to react to this issue.

What drives the American economy to a large extent is the small businesses, the entreprenuer. Unfortunately inNigeria, the environment does not favour setting up a business. If I set up a business in a viable environment, I am an employer of labor, and by employing people, I am providing in essence for several families. That is the multiplier effect.

Unfortunately, in a clime of uncertainty, strikes, no fuel, no water, NEPA, how easy is it to set up a business?

Unless the economy is allowed to move, by providing neccessary infrastructures, then the future as u rightly predict is very very gloomy.

From what i can tell , we really haven't even explored a lot of industries in Nigeria, and even those we explored, we have not make fully use of its potential. Therefore we haven't even reached 5% of our totally capacity in terms of industries. We are not developed. We are not even industrialized. And yet we complain of unemployment.

Cases like Japan, are special cases, because they have reached the max of what they can support in terms of industries. So really thats really something we have to realize in that sense.

Now Jogego said in relation to lack of basic infrastructure, he is absolutely right. And thats our key to solving the unemployment problems in Nigeria. Once we have regular electricity, water and good roads, and of course we should not forget the easy one, ensuring regular availability of fuel, which comes as a bonus , because we are the sixth largest producer of oil.

But there is a clause. We all can try the little we can, because Rome was not built in a day. But as in terms of unemployment, it is a problem, but if we look at it closely it is not a problem at all. I hope you get what i mean

One of the problems facing Naija is that na everybody want wear suit and being chauffeur driven everywhere. Folks are spending too much time digging other people's gold. I support the small business initiative as the only way out of this quagmire. We have too much graduates as it is. What we need is people who can create jobs for themselves.

hmm, this is a very important topic and i hope i stay within the subject..

the topic touches on population and unemployment.
note that population by itself is a good thing. one of the indices of measuring a country's strength is its population. If we were to go to war with a less-populated country, we have a higher chance of winning. That is what China and India have.

Now, i think the major problem we have in Nigeria is the quality of our human resources which boils down to 1. raw talent 2. education 3. morals

Someone mentioned basic infrastructure, you have a point but remember that it's a company that will execute the contract for that infrastructure, it's people that will maintain it. If the people in charge are not adequate, the infrastructure will either be badly done a la Nitel or badly maintained a la Nigerian Roads.

Our government needs to invest massively in improving our human resources - schools, morals etc. It is the surest way to make Nigeria grow. What good is a natural resource like oil if there are no human resources to maximise value from it?

Well one thing i know of well, is that you have to build a house first, before you start living inside. Or even not to talk of even maintaining it. So build the house first, and do the rest later. Training of the Nigerian masses of how to maintain and use the infrastructure?? you kidding us right?.

Well on that issue, i would say privatization would solve that. Its not the govenments duty to provide services, it is their duty to provide the means to ensuring its citizens have that service. The government should contract roads to private companies for example, and the private companies can earn from tolls in major highways through a specific no of years, before removing the toll gates, and also, they could use the money received from the tolls to maintain the road. Malaysia does it and so far its working. Private companies, build the road and maintain it for 7 years, by earning from tolls. After the 7 year period, its re-contracted again, and the project goes on. And thus a good well maintain road is ensured.

Charging reasonable fees would solve the problem, the same goes for electricity and water. Privatization is the key. If you then say but is it not the same Nigerian citizens that are going to work in those companies. Well i would like to point out that companies like Globacom don't have problems with staffs following company regulations. And thats applicable to any industry maintained by a private body.

I should be excused to say No, our government should now waste money investing in things that wouldn't bring any benefit to the nation.

kazey,

too bad you did not get the message. I say the Nigerian government should invest in education so that Nigerians in general can be better skilled and create more value be it building roads, managing accounts, becoming entrepreneurs or whateva. The bottomline is Nigerians are not educated and capable enough in general to become entrepreneurs or any other stuff. It's not the population, it's the quality of the population

When i say invest, it does not mean the only way government can help is spend money, they could create policies that make it more conducive for the masses to get educated and improve themselves. I believe a lot in privatisation. it will go a long way in tackling most of the problem.. but it wont solve all the problems.... Tell me have you seen the state of public schools all over the country particularly lagos? That's where many of our youth are being trained!!

you mention globacom, how many people do they employ compared to the population of nigeria? infact, do you know how many nigerians are unemployed because they just aint capable? how many companies have gone down because of incapable human resources?

I do not agree with the notion that Nigerians are half baked. Agreed, educational standard has been falling, but that is for maybe at worst the past 10 years. What about all the Nigerians produced before then? Nigerians happen to be some of the smartest people on this planet and while I agree that human capital is essential, it is definitely not as important as infrastructures.

Trains do not even work in NIgeria. If I were to decide to set up a fruit jucing factory, how do I get fruits from the farms in the hinterland to the factory on the coast? Without effective transportation how do you want labour to travel? On the delapidated roads? On broken down molues?

If the road networks are good, alternative transport methods are available ,then the road network will not be overworked.

It is all well and good saying that small business initiative, but even if the Goverment gave out loans for people, are they going to operate in an isolated environment? Will they not still be regulated by this same stiffling environment.

And don't even let me start about capital. The banks should be driving industries by generating loans but then, because of the situation in the country, you and me, cannot leave money on placement with any bank for more than 90 days at most and of course, we do not expect the bank to lend out money for longer then the 90 days they got. Hence the high interest rates on loans. Another way of getting capital in the industrialised countries is the Stock exchange, but most Nigerians prefer to hold on to the company and watch it die rather than allow inflow of much needed capital and ideas.

In short, its a multifaceted wahala, but me thinks there cannot be any head way up until the provision of basic things. Goverment has more than enough on their plate. Go back to the basics. Secondary school economics and provide the basic essential factors of production and the country will be able to grow and boom.

I dont know where you get the facts that Nigerians are incapable, but that is a very wrong notion.Which Nigerian masses are not educated? I doubt if you'd get to any university anywhere in the world where you wont meet Nigerians both as students and as Lecturers

Jogego, the students and lecturers who are in universities abroad are not the 'masses'. They are the 'elites'! Compare the number of Nigerians who want to travel out to the number who actually do. You should agree with me that those who are doing well outside the country are not the masses.

The masses are the people I pass by everyday when going to town to shop for one thing or the other and I can't say they are as educated as they need to be. Even those that have degrees in Nigeria have not necessary learnt all they ought to have learnt before getting the degrees. Besides, university students in Nigeria are not the masses either, because the vast majority of Secondary School leavers do not get admission into Universities.

Believe me, if I was one of the masses, I will [i]not[/b] be running this site today. So the real 'masses' may bot be as well-to-do as you think.

So what are we saying here? you guys are just speaking english, i dont really get you.

So the government should invest in education? What kind of education and how. Because i know the annual budget on education yearly is 100's of millions. Education is the key to solving unemployment?

Well really can you guys tackle that. I would really appreciate. And thanks Jogego, you have said it all.

yes, education is the solution. not only to unemployment but to all of nigeria's problems. Unemployment is a symptom. Infrastructure is an anecdote.. Low quality human resources is the problem. education is the only long-term cure.

even, the US has a similar problem today.

I think the government should concentrate primarily on creating a business friendly environment if it is going to reduce the problem of unemployment. This is because the more businesses grow, the more people they can employ and the more goods and services there are for the employed people to buy as well.

This means three things in order of achievability:


1. Delivering the physical infrastructure that will enable the businesses to run their operations smoothly. This includes (a) electricity, (b) telecommunications, a good transportation network and (d) water supply. I believe that the government should concentrate on creating a regulatory framework that will enable private companies to supply (a), (b) and (d), while it should meet its obligations and repair the existing road network to provide (c). I used to be a fan of the private road idea, but I feel it would only work for major highways.


2. Ensuring that the business has good quality graduates that it is able to employ. In a way, I think this is a problem that will solve itself as Nigerian businesses begin to get exposed to best practice in business. The companies that thrive will do so because they employ good graduates; other companies will become aware of what is desirable in a good graduate and increasingly demand these kinds of graduates; the graduates themselves will either seek schools that give them these qualities or educate themselves; and the schools will begin to tailor their curriculum to match these requirements.

The one thing the government can do is to lightly regulate the provision of private education to ensure that schools are able to deliver what they claim to be able to deliver.


3. Enforcement of the rule of law. This is probably at least as important as the provision of infrastructure, but unfortunately it's very difficult to achieve for reasons I don't have the time to go into here. The government needs to overhaul the current way justice is dispensed so that cases are resolved faster and companies feel more confident that their property rights will be respected; also the law enforcement agencies need to be reformed so that they are more professional about how they go about enforcing the law.

Thank you brother[b] KA[/b]. This education issue, sha. Do you know how many Nigerian graduates with Bachelors, are jobless? Or you would say their problem, was, they didn't get educated whilst in university? because honestly i still don't get the link. Oh forgotten, they are not competent, but yet some of the incompetent ones still get employed. I would really appreciate more inputs from Nigerians staying in Nigeria, especially the "educated" ones in this forum.

So you are telling me the organized mechanics, plumbers. etc in Nigeria that happen not to be educated and fortunately are doing fine, should go back to school and learn, then that would give us the pre-requisite to becoming developed? . USA, is a good example just like you said, but are they not developed? Dont they have jobs available, that people wouldnt even think twice when giving the chance to explore going to seek for a job there?. We are missing the whole point here.

I think even countries like Uk etc, wouldn't agree on your idea of educating the masses. Thats why i think they have unemployment salaries i guess.

Now this is what you said for my reference.

bioye:

1 [/b]yes, education [b]is the solution.

2 Low quality human resources is the problem.

3 education is the only long-term cure.

3 the US has a similar problem today.

Nice post, Ka.  Really, in order not to turn the discussion into an argument, I'll just rephrase that the solutions to the problem of unemployment include:

1.  Basic infrastructure.
2.  Education.
3.  Rule of law.

In fact, about the rule of law, I had mentioned this in a previous post about the police at: https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-297.0.html#msg14130

Now, I can't say categorically which of the 3 should take priority or if there is infact a preferable solution to all 3 for now.  hopefully, if we can lay our hands on real facts and statistics, we can understand the problem better and recommend solutions.  Hence, I see this discussion as an opportunity to understand, learn and discover the real issues facing our dear nation.

Well that was a good post you have in The Nigerian Police Force: How do you view them?

bioye:

A first-class product may deliver on the job, but he may still be corrupt? I am yet to fathom a solution to the moral decay.

Exactly !! . But then you still insist on the investment into the education sector, I really wonder why? . Education doesn't play any role, in making the country less corrupt, and thus that doesn't solve the problem, we are currently in. What we need to be on the way to development, and ensuring enough jobs for everybody is an uncorrupted nation, where projects can be implemented without the contractor, paying bribes, and at the end not even implementing the project.

My answer to this, is, privatize the entire government organizations such as NEPA , NITEL. And even the Road Building and maintenance sector, and the whole problem of corruption would be solved in the sectors of maintaining and implementation of projects. In a privately maintained organization, if you are corrupt you get fired, How many people would want to get fired? But in a government organization, what happens, if you are corrupt? People praise you.

funny, it appears our dear government have solutions to all these problems both theoretically and practically.

Though, i said i knew not the solution to the moral decay, maybe we have mentioned the solution. The moral decay results in corruption. Enforcing the Rule of Law may be the solution. If you know you would be caught and dealt with if you commit a crime, you would either not do it, or be caught or have to be extremely smart to get away. The government has attacked corruption by establishing Due Process, ICPC and EFCC. But they still have a lot of work to do - the Police need to be hastily overhauled, Prison Reforms must get underway soonest. The courts should have enough courtrooms and judges and equipment to handle cases for the thousands of detainees languishing away in detention without trial etc etc. And alas, can you see more employment here? More law graduates get opportunities to be employed!

Now, the Federal Government is doing something. What are the States and Local Governments doing? The Federal Government has no jusrisdiction over them. And I suspect they are the most corrupt executive arm of government today.

you are absolutely right. Corruption solved = Nigerian problems solved.

The major cause of unemployement in Nigeria is basically what i see as the over population of job seekers. A medium Nigerian educated family consists of 4 children when you put the parent in the mix you get 6 people. Most of the children were groomed to become Doctors, Lawyer, Nurse, Accountant, Engineers etc. Non are ever groomed be competitive, and we want our children to be conformist, if anyone of them rebel that he want to start a business we see him/her as a loser. The reason is simple parents want their children in official cars with AC, not a struggling entrepreneur.

Until the parents and youths of Nigeria can have a rethink/rebirth of their view about white and blue collar jobs, Nigeria will continue to grapple with the issue of unemployment.

And now since people have begun to realise that the jobs are no longer there, they have started doing some SME. Nigerian graduates must also try to get their hand dirty, and stop seeing people that are doing some SME as illiterates, if they can apply what they have learned "if any" in school, they can make their own SME to be a role model for others to emulate.

joftech:

The major cause of unemployement in Nigeria is basically what i see as the over population of job seekers.

Good points raised. And of course this is the problem, too many job seekers than the jobs available. And your solution is

Nigerian graduates must also try to get their hand dirty, and stop seeing people that are doing some SME as illiterates, if they can apply what they have learned "if any" in school, they can make their own SME to be a role model for others to emulate. Please allow me to add more points to that

For those that do not know what SME is. SME is Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, such as the mechanic in your neighborhood etc. Why can't a graduate with mechanical engineering for example, start something of that nature, and use his skills fully Well i guess they want the prestege of working in a company, just pushing papers around.

well, point of note: SMEs are much bigger than the Mechanics etc.. Guess what, i was discussing with my bro this weekend and he hinted that the problem with nigeria is poverty - people cannot eat cos there is no food. Hence, the solution to poverty is provision of enough food. We need more people to go into agriculture - mechanised that is. So, maybe people should start seeking employment in agriculture so they can attack 2 of naija's main problems head on - unemployment and poverty

@Bioye, is like you don't know the meaning of poverty, no pun intended.  The problem of poverty in Nigeria has to do with unemployment and underemployment. 80% of Nigerian graduates are working in a field that is not related to what they study at school. This is a classic example of underemployment, and what happen when this happen, you have people doing things the wrong way simply because they are not qualify to do what they are doing.

Another problem with Nigeria is that we have a high number of working poor.  Until the following (unemployment, underemployment and the working poor syndrome) are abolished or brought under control there will continue to be poverty in the land. Poverty does not arise by itself; it’s those things that give birth to poverty. I wonder when you talk that there is no food, I wonder when Nigeria become another Niger, there is abundant food supply in Nigeria, the problem is that people are not empowered to be able to afford them; Simple.

Take away unemployment, underemployment and the working poor quagmire and you will see how Nigeria will be a heaven on earth.

joftech:

@Bioye, is like you don't know the meaning of poverty, no pun intended. 

i almost laughed there. see, let me tell you something. think about it. there is not enough food available in nigeria. so that even if we are all employed in other industries; because of the shortage of food, the price will keep rising becos of too much demand. and some pple will still not be able to buy the food.

for example, why do we still import chicken, turkey etc illegally if we have enough food in nigeria? the [b]illegal importatio[/b]n itself drives the price very high. etc. etc.

@ Bioye
Well from what i got and understood from Wikipedia.....

Poverty is the state of being without, often associated with need, hardship and lack of resources across a wide range of circumstances. For some, poverty is a subjective and comparative term; for others, it is moral and evaluative; and for others, scientifically established. The principal uses of the term include:

Descriptions of material need, including deprivation of essential goods and services, multiple deprivation, and patterns of deprivation over time.

Economic circumstances, describing a lack of wealth (usually understood as capital, money, material goods, or resources, especially natural resources). The meaning of "sufficient" varies widely across the different political and economic parts of the world. In the European Union, poverty is also described in terms of "economic distance", or inequality.

Social relationships, including social exclusion, dependency, and the ability to live what is understood in a society as a "normal" life: for instance, to be capable of raising a healthy family, and especially educating children and participating in society.

No enough food = Poverty? you guys don't fail to amaze me with your funny concepts. Why do we attach things like unavailability of food etc as the basic indication of poverty?

Bioye, just curious, are you located in Nigeria? I mean i saw the Lagos, Nigeria . But still your concept is quiet funny sha. Mechanics are not in the SME categories but Being a Farmer or Agriculturist is? Man you need to travel overseas and see what Mechanics, look like, I think i even underrated them by categorizing them in the SME category.

Infact I would classify being a farmer or Agriculturist is in the Big Business category. And importation of food has nothing to do with poverty, infact some countries that have a higher standard of living such as even the greatest USA, still imports food, even with the big time farmers they have in that country.

I think you need to do interview people suffering from poverty, and ask what really their problem is. Is it just the food?

@kazey good point there, bioye was mixing up everything togther.

i have to accept that i erred in the articulation of some of my points hence i beg to try again..

ok, i agree 100% that lack of food alone is NOT equal to poverty but is one of the major things that can contribute to it. If i cant afford to eat, i am definitely poor.

also, i realise that this thread is primarily about unemployment. Poverty is just an extension of the topic. my point should be this: nigeria is not producing enough food because people are shunning agriculture. hence, i am suggesting that anyone who intends to create jobs should look more into agriculture. in the long run, he would be creating employment, making food available to more pple and bringing down the price of food so that there would be more money left over to acquire the other basic needs of life. i think all these contribute somehow to the reduction of poverty in nigeria.

joftech:

Why do we attach things like unavailability of food etc as the basic indication of poverty?

and i disagree with you here, unavailability of food etc is a basic indication of poverty

kazey:
Why do we attach things like unavailability of food etc as the basic indication of poverty?

sorry, i was quoting kazey and not joftech

The Federal Government of Nigeria should address the issue of unemployment, and Job creation should be topmost in their agenda because by so doing, the people will be occupied with something tangible.
Imagine the great number of Graduates that passes out from our various Tertiary Institutions without a place, its really appalling that a country like ours is having such an alarming rate of Unemployment.

Kazey,
Education does not necessarily mean going to school. From wikipedia.org, Education encompasses teaching and learning specific skills, and also something less tangible but more profound: the imparting of knowledge, good judgement and wisdom. Education has as one of its fundamental goals the imparting of culture from generation to generation.
So, Bioye is right in this sense. Everybody in Nigeria needs to be educated in whatever they are doing whether you are a mechanic, struggling entrepreneur, teacher,etc. to move the country forward. It doesn't have to be formal education. Lack of education is thus, indeed a problem...and education is the key.

Can you quote me, where i said education means going to school. I would really appreciate that. Thank you.

Kazey, you may go back and re-read your posts. Most of your statements show this. But this is an example of what you said that made me infer...

So you are telling me the organized mechanics, plumbers. etc in Nigeria that happen not to be educated and fortunately are doing fine, should go back to school and learn, then that would give us the pre-requisite to becoming developed?

Now ok, let say I even said that in my previous post. May I know the category of people in Nigeria, that needs the education you people are proposing?

Because from what you are saying even the layman, that has some skills, is educated. I wanted to hit on that, but currently not in the mood. So I would take another easy angle.

Can you just give an example of one category of Nigerians, that do not have even atleast one skill? That would be appreciated too.

Hi Guys,

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