IS YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT HOLDING NIGERIA DOWN?
For us in Unemployed Graduates Association of Nigeria (UGAN), we see unemployment as a state of uselessness to the state of an army of youths who have being denied opportunities to contribute to the development of their state by their governments. Tatyana Volkova and Felix Volkova (1986) corroborate this view when they defined unemployment as to be left without an opportunity to eat food and have decent housing, it means to lose confidence in today and hope for tomorrow.
Millions of Nigerian youths have acquired certain skills so that they could be empowered or employed to enable them take care of their aged parents, provide their needs and that of their families, and also pay their taxes. Unfortunately, unemployment seems to have quashed our forward-looking-healthy aspirations.
Unemployment as we all know is a social disease and with such magnitude of unemployed Nigerian youths, one is tempted to say, our dearest country is socially sick. The blame for this illness is more on the previous Federal governments, especially the Military regimes and most previous and current state governments than the present Federal government because of their seen efforts in youth’s empowerment and job creation. At this point, we implore the federal and State governments to re-strategize towards creating jobs through agriculture, information Technology and other skill acquisition programs. Federal government should re-examine the laws establishing EFCC and its other sister commissions/agencies as regards seizure and forfeiture of establishments/properties owned by a financial crime suspect. We all know it is a common practice by these Commissions/Agencies to seize and close down the operations of any company/establishment owned by someone suspected of a financial crime and the employees of such establishment would all lose their jobs. Thousands of Nigerians have lost their jobs this way. We now ask for a change, a methodology be worked out (perhaps in collaboration with Nigeria Institute of Management, NIM) in such a way that every employment-generating-establishment owned by a suspect can continue to run and survive while the commissions/Agencies still do their job. With this, we believe that our economy and citizens are better served.
To the question, of whether youth unemployment is holding Nigeria down, our answer is a capital ‘YES’ for the following reasons which is also why we have been held back as a country:
Nigeria as a country has witnessed increased rate of armed robbery, prostitution, fraud, mass exodus of our youths outside our golden shores, unpatriotic youths, examination malpractice, malnutrition as a result of creeping poverty, families breakdown etc.
The recently noticed crimes in our clime as a result of unemployment are kidnapping, oil-theft, baby production/baby factories, stealing of babies, even in hospitals etc.
Other effects of unemployment include the unintended breeding of a battalion of youths who may be easily recruited for political thuggery and assassination. Also, many Nigerian youths, now are victims of inferiority complex as a result of being unemployed for a very long time.
The above credentials can only but prove why our only country, Nigeria, the hope of the black race is being held down, because of the neglects of our subsequent governments who failed to respect and see Nigerians as the primary reason why the country exist.
No amount of policing of an army of hungry youths will be effective without presenting them a legal means of satisfying their hunger, without which they will soon find an illegal means of surviving which will be of greater security and economic cost to the governments.
Governments should know that the social disease of a state which results from pronounced unemployment among its youth, if not handled carefully will attract other of its two sister- security and economic diseases. Such, will only keep the country still.

Odor Michael C.
Unemployed Graduates Association of Nigerian
Uganfct@gmail.com
www.facebook./unemployed graduates association of nigeria (ugan)