Unemployment: It’s time to shift to entrepreneurship
A nation puts over 70 per cent of its hope on the youth, making them the most important category of individuals and the greatest hope and reason for a better, stronger, and a more fulfilling future.
In Nigeria, the youth are wasting, largely due to unemployment, inadequate skills and slow acceptance of the capacity of entrepreneurship to replace white-collar jobs.
The recent national demographic survey data reveals that there are over 180 million Nigerians, out of which over 50 per cent are under the age of thirty.
This indicates that Nigeria has a huge youthful population considering that the period of youthfulness is identified to be between 18 and 40 years.
General unemployment rate in Nigeria has the worst numbers in recent history as the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported that Nigeria’s unemployment rate rose for the seventh straight quarters to 13.9 per cent in the third quarter of 2016 from 13.3 per cent in the previous period, being the highest level seen since 2009.
Meanwhile, the data for youth unemployment rate are even more frightening as the NBS reported that it skyrocketed to 25 per cent in the third quarter of 2016 from the 24 per cent in the previous period recorded.
The scarcity of government employment has been largely the reason for youth unemployment and unfortunately, a large portion of the youth are bent on doing nothing but government jobs.
For instance, only six out of 30 students of Nasarawa State University randomly polled said they would go into entrepreneurial endeavours after graduation. This is disturbing considering that most of these students are likely to be disappointed after graduation when they discover that formal employments are scarce.
It is worth noting that the solution to current youth unemployment problem is entrepreneurship and skills development in different areas: tailoring, carpentry, hairdressing, and farming among others.
From Mimi Peniel, Mass Communication Department, Nasarawa State University, Keffi.