The urgency of Fighting unemployment in Nigeria

While the president is preparing to carry out possibly one of the biggest frontal onslaughts against the dreaded insurgent group in north eastern Nigeria, more armed struggle is breeding in other parts of the country. Young people who are mostly jobless, Frustrated and uninformed are brought together and indoctrinated for the purpose of fighting the state under various purposes and agenda.

In 2013, former president Bill Clinton of the U.S. Identified poverty and unemployment as major factors fueling the insurgency in the country, and suggested among others, equitable distribution of wealth and job creation among Nigeria's teeming unemployed youths as some of the outstanding ways of fighting the threat of insurgency in Nigeria.

http://www.punchng.com/news/poverty-fuelling-boko-haram-insurgency-clinton/

It is very important for us to appreciate that with the estimated 26% (about 40 million; unofficial) unemployment in the country, fighting insurgency cannot be possible without fighting unemployment at the same time because armed struggle is gaining momentum at this point in time in some other parts of the country, specifically the south south and south east. Just recently, a secessionist group under the aegis of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) called for the arming of millions of youths in the south eastern part of the country for war against Nigeria.

Nigeria cannot remain in the business of curative means of fighting insurgency, remote indicators that fuel this problem must be taken as seriously as the insurgency itself. If we borrow to fight insurgency, then we must also borrow to tackle unemployment. It is my estimation and speculation that there has been substantial illegal importation of arms within the past 6 to 8 years (sources listed below) and closer attention must be placed on the possible effects of playing with kid gloves on the potentially dangerous effects of leaving our youths jobless and vulnerable to these negative trends of insecurity and armed struggle.

This is no longer a time for politics in high places, the new government of President Buhari must realize the urgency of the task of fighting unemployment. Planning and implementation should be a continuos process and Nigerians expect that the ground should be hit running immediately.

We are in critical times that demand urgent and critical solutions.

God Bless Nigeria.

- SocialMediaMan

More reading:

Proof of massive importation of arms into Nigeria between 2010 and 2015

http://www.punchng.com/news/2015-elections-illegal-arms-importation-rises/

http://www.premiumtimesng.com/regional/ssouth-west/146269-illegal-arms-importation-nigeria-drops-charges-russian-sailors.html

http://allafrica.com/stories/201305140986.html

http://theunion.com.ng/illegal-arms-acquisition-assumes-frightening-dimension/

http://www.m.worldstagegroup.com/readnews.php?&id=8952&active=news

Reading...

The PMB govt has rightfully also identified unemployment as a time bomb which it intends to tackle using agriculture and mining as immediate measures.
I believe this approach is in order because mining and agriculture are 2 key areas that can provide mass employment while longer term with improved power supply and infrastructural development,more private businesses,individual owed,small and large scale could come on stream to reduce unemployment.
As per small arms,the truth is as long as there are many uneducated and jobless people out there,violence would be an outlet for some to vent their frustration and anger.There is so much laws and law enforcement agencies can do in d face of a large majority of unemployed, underemployed and unemployable individuals.
One area I have not heard much about and which is d fulcrum of taking people out of unemployment is access to credit.Banks in Nigeria don't seem to know this is their core biz function;so the govt has to find smart ways of giving people access to credit; a people's banking model could be resurrected in a more efficient way.
Nigerians are creative and hardworking people, give them access to funds and opportunities and many would lift themselves out of poverty and become useful members of the society.

doctokwus:
The PMB govt has rightfully also identified unemployment as a time bomb which it intends to tackle using agriculture and mining as immediate measures.
I believe this approach is in order because mining and agriculture are 2 key areas that can provide mass employment while longer term with improved power supply and infrastructural development,more private businesses,individual owed,small and large scale could come on stream to reduce unemployment.
As per small arms,the truth is as long as there are many uneducated and jobless people out there,violence would be an outlet for some to vent their frustration and anger.There is so much laws and law enforcement agencies can do in d face of a large majority of unemployed, underemployed and unemployable individuals.
One area I have not heard much about and which is d fulcrum of taking people out of unemployment is access to credit.Banks in Nigeria don't seem to know this is their core biz function;so the govt has to find smart ways of giving people access to credit; a people's banking model could be resurrected in a more efficient way.
Nigerians are creative and hardworking people, give them access to funds and opportunities and many would lift themselves out of poverty and become useful members of the society.

Thank you for this input. One practical way I have suggested to increase access to credit in Nigeria by implemting a central system and issuing everyone in Nigeria with a social security number. With this unique number, everything you do, both your financial history, criminal history, education history etc will be tracked easily by any institution. If you want to rent a house, your landlord will issue you a form to do a background check, your employer, the same, everything you do can be tracked, and banks will no longer ask you for collateral because the police can easily track you as your ATM, last known location, history etc would be easily tracked.

Apart from insurgency, corruption and unemployment are two issues that have bedevilled our dear country. Insurgency is not just a national problem but an international problem and I think PMB is on track (by seeking the support and co-operation of Chad and Niger) because of his promise to crush this menace.

As a country, we cannot continue to depend heavily on the oil sector. If we can go into aggressive farming and exportation of our agricultural produce, we will certainly be a force to reckon with and more jobs will be created for the unemployed.
The government needs to create an enabling environment for more local and international investors and brainstorm on how to reduce our over-dependence on petroleum. In doing this, the issue of sustainable energy supply must be looked into.

Above all, if we can effectively deal with corruption and ensure that our elected officials are accountable, we will be better off.

Let's all come together and support PMB and his administration. This is certainly a new dawn in the history of Nigeria.

God bless PMB and his government.
God bless Nigeria.

Nigeria will be great again.

Well said @obi4eze, we as a people must support the government to ensure its success because the president has stated his commitment to tackling many of these issues head-on. I will keep giving my input to this administration to ensure its success