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Otti links insecurity in Nigeria to 6.5m army of unemployed youths
BY KAZIE UKO
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia State, Dr Alex Otti, says the intractable insecurity threatening the corporate existence of Nigeria has its root in the alarming large number of unemployed youths in the country.
The foremost economist says based on the current numbers published by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS), it is clear that unemployment in Nigeria has never been this high in the post-independence Nigeria and it has been on the increase quarter on quarter.
The NBS in its recent report put the rate of unemployment as at the last quarter of 2020 at 33.3% representing an increase of 6.2% when compared with the Quarter 2 unemployment rate of 27.1%. Breaking the numbers down, the NBS stated that the total labour force, meaning persons within the ages of 15 and 64, was 122m, showing an increase of five million from the labour force of 117 million people in Quarter 2. The NBS Report further stated that youth unemployment (those aged between 15 and 34), increased to 42.5% from the Quarter 2 rate of 34.9%.
According to the former bank chief executive officer whose record of achievement remains very salutary, a country where one in three people is looking for a job is easily among the worst cases globally and in the case of Nigeria, experts believe that this number is understated as it is believed to be much worse.
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Writing in his fortnightly column, ‘Outside the Box’ in Thisday, Otti notes: “When account is taken of the level and rate of youth unemployment, the figure begins to look uglier at close to 65%. Put differently, out of a youth labour force of 10 million people, 6.5 million of them do not have anything to do, even though they are actively searching. It means that these 6.5 million people are available for any type of task at all, including armed robbery, kidnapping, banditry, terrorism and the like. They make up what is referred to as ‘the reserve army of the unemployed’. Any wonder the alarming level of insecurity in the land?
“It is imperative that the government puts on the front burner the issue of unemployment in the country, even if not out of altruism but out of self-preservation and survival. In the first place the level of productivity of any country is determined by the level of productivity of its work force. There cannot be economic growth if the work force is idle. If our GDP is $400m, generated by half the work force, it follows that at full employment our GDP can easily be $800m, all things being equal. Therefore, the level of unemployment should be seen for what it is; an economic growth prevention issue.”
He says the psychological effect of joblessness on that number of the populace can only be imagined, particularly to the unemployed youth, describing the situation as very unhealthy.
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“The fact that they are unable to afford the minimum requirements for modest living may begin to affect their physical and mental health. Nigeria is said to be the poverty capital of the world with the latest data from the World Poverty Clock putting the number of people living in extreme poverty at close of 87m people. One does not require an expert to link this number to the unemployment figures in the country. It is also for this reason as highlighted above, that they become easy targets for recruitment into crime and violence,” Otti writes.
He continues: “It is our considered opinion that reduction in unemployment levels should be a major item on the priority list of any government, be it central or regional. The way governments in this country approach the challenge of job creation, leaves much to be desired. While we agree that it is in the place of the private sector to create jobs, we restate that it is squarely in the place of the public sector to create the enabling environment for the private sector to operate and express itself. This fact cannot be overemphasised. Investments in roads, rail, airports, bridges, schools, hospitals, should not be made with a mindset to recoup them directly.”
Whereas he is not averse to government looking towards agriculture to generate employment and thereby reduce the number of the unemployed, Otti, who has through his foundation awarded scholarships to undergraduate students across Abia State, however, believes education will yield a more enduring result to solving the issue of unemployment in the country.
READ: Alex Otti Foundation invites applicants for 2020/2021 scholarship
Otti affirms: “It is on this basis that that we turn to Education. Again, we had discussed Education extensively in the past. The speed at which technology seems to be over taking the universe and the realities of the pandemic have made us realise the need to pay particular attention to manpower and skill development. This then brings us to some very critical questions. For instance, what is the quality of teaching in our public schools? Who is teaching our students and what skills do they possess? What are they teaching them? In what kind of environment is learning happening? The truth is that we are not preparing our children for the global competitive future.
“The world seems to have left us behind, where we still teach by rote and memorising, while the world is in the era of critical thinking and innovation. We must hit the reset button and recalibrate this all-important sector, and it must start right from the rudimentary level all through the tertiary level. Priority should be given to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). There is a lot of literature on this. I will recommend that those interested should consult the literature. We have no time to waste, if we must catch up with the rest of the world.”