Youth unemployment: Why Okonjo-Iweala is wrong
July 31, 2012 by Bayo Olupohunda 37 Comments

As the high rate of joblessness among Nigerian youth population a consequence of the global unemployment crisis or an upshoot of a mismanaged economy and wrong approach to employment creation initiatives? Did the recession-hit global economy have a ricochet effect on the growing statistics of the unemployed in Nigeria? The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, thinks that the job problem in the country is part of a worldwide unemployment crisis. The minister is wrong on this point. The miserable job figures are peculiar to Nigeria alone. Unemployment problem in Nigeria precedes the current downturn. Low job statistics among Nigerian youths have been around since the inception of bad economic management. It has become endemic because the government has failed to create enabling environment for the private sector to generate job opportunities. One does not also have to be an economist to know that the current situation is caused by incompetent leadership and corruption. But why do government officials including the minister think they can hoodwink us with annoying comparative justification of their failures?

The minister defended her analysis by quoting job figures from advanced economies. Reading her position correctly, she seemed to assert that if developed countries could suffer unemployment problem, then who are we to complain? This is really sad coming from someone occupying such a high position. This same argument was advanced by Okonjo-Iweala and government officials during the protest that followed the removal of fuel subsidy in January. During that period, they justified the withdrawal by comparing the high prices with what is obtained in non-oil producing countries! Now Madam Minister says the national unemployment level of 23 per cent and youth unemployment rising to 40 per cent are normal because other countries have the same problem. Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala proudly quotes figures from all over the world. She uses the current unemployment statistics from Spain, South Africa, Greece, France and the United States to validate her assertion that we are in the same mess. However, the minister needs to be reminded that the current unemployment misery is home grown. We should, in fact, be doing better than the advanced economies and countries in the Asian Tigers. Those countries once looked up to us. Nigeria is put at a population of 150 million people with the youths forming the larger percentage of it. Our youths and other unemployed professionals should all be gainfully employed had government vigorously pursued job creation initiatives. But we are a consuming nation preferring to import than to produce. The slide in job figures deepened when the few industries that we inherited after Independence were mismanaged. Those that were created in the early years of military rule closed shop due to the profligacy of the Second Republic under President Shehu Shagari. That government was defined by the number of import licences given out to importers. Many indigenous manufacturing companies had to stop production because of the influx of foreign goods into the country. In the thick of military regimes, the harsh political environment and ill-conceived economic policies of successive governments led to massive capital flight. The Structural Adjustment Programme compounded the woes of manufacturers when the naira was devalued. Millions of youths were thrown into the job market. The situation never improved. Infrastructural decay, multiple taxes, brigandage and chaotic political milieu led many multinational companies to fold up. Perhaps, the major cause of unemployment in our country today is lack of electricity. Widespread epileptic power supply means that major companies have to spend huge sums of money generating their own energy for production and other operations.

Poor electricity supply has also had negative effects on small businesses. It is the reason why manufacturing companies could not produce to capacity; it is the reason why major companies had packed up and relocated to Ghana and other African countries in recent years. It is the reason why our youths continue to roam the streets. The situation in moribund textile industries across the country provides a sad example of how unemployment has deepened over the years. Textile companies used to be a major source of employment. For more than two decades, textile companies gradually shut down production because government promoted the importation of foreign fabrics. Hundreds of textile companies were forced to lay off workers when they could not compete with the influx of foreign fabrics. Millions of jobs were lost. Several attempts to reverse the policy have failed. Since the advent of democracy, all the policies that should have helped the economy and provide jobs for our youths have not been successful. The power problem has not improved; corruption is still very rife. It is one major reason why Nigerian youths suffer so much deprivation. Our financial institutions have shed more than 50, 000 jobs in the last five years. Corruption and poor management have hit the sector so hard and resulted in uncertainty. It has also resulted in the displacement of more than half of the employees that used to work in the Nigerian banking industry. At government level, all the agencies created for job provision have become tools for political patronage.

So, why it is easier to blame global recession and other lame excuses, we should not have found ourselves in this situation. In fact, we should be an example of the success story that has propelled the Asian Tigers to be safe havens of sustainable employment generation and limitless opportunities for their citizens. Our country should as a matter of urgency restructure our priorities and consider our import practices and explore export opportunities to assist our youths to secure the employment that will not only transform their lives but also reconstruct the way we do business with the rest of the world. We have millions of jobless youths today who are very frustrated, distressed, and angry. The minister’s explanation is not sound enough.

http://www.punchng.com/opinion/youth-unemployment-why-okonjo-iweala-is-wrong/