REASONS FOR THE PREVALENT POVERTY THAT CO-EXISTED WITH MASS UNEMPLOYMENT

1 Backward State of the Economy

The Nigerian economy is a primitive one, an artisan economy in which the fundamental production tools remain how, axe, cutlass e.t.c., and production depends on energy stored in muscles. Total employment in artisan economy is very small and its ability to absorb highly educated people has traditionally been low. As an artisan economy is transformed into an industrialized one, the production base expands and the manpower absorptive power increases as well as the total employment. In general, pre-industrial societies experience mass unemployment and low productivity but industrialization solves the problems. Britain experienced mass unemployment and low productivity for centuries, but these problems apparently vanished as from late 18th century when she achieved the first modern industrial revolution. This means that it is rapid industrialization that must be stimulated to solve the mass unemployment and low productivity problems confronting Nigeria and other African nations. Any strategy that is not geared towards promoting industrialization cannot be a fundamental effort towards solving unemployment problem.

2 Poor Perception of the Relationship Between National Productivity/Poverty and Self-employment/Entrepreneurship

Attendant to prevalent poverty in Africa is mass unemployment of all categories of labour. The International Labour Organization (ILO) global economic report (2006), said that global unemployment hit a record high of 192 million in year 2005, with young people making up nearly 50% of the Jobless. To the ILO, the parlous state of global economy in 2005 was the result of unimplemented budget coupled with extra-budgetary expenses and general lack of fiscal discipline. Government solution to the co-existent problems of mass unemployment and poverty is SELF EMPLOYMENT; government agencies have been providing entrepreneurial training for youths so that they can employ themselves. This explains why the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) was established in 1986 and they are yet to produced the needed results.
During Obasanjo regime, Dr Hassan Lawal (Minister of Labour) emphasise self employment as the then Nigeria policy as he said to Batch B corper in 2004 that"I wish to remind you that from now onward, your future lies in your hands". To the minister, there's no need to find the relationship between unemployment and poverty. It is not part of the demands for managing the economy to understand why mass unemployment and prevalent poverty are coexisting. How can such government succeed in solving the problems he doesn't care to understand?

This explains why President Olusegun Obasanjo mandated through national University Commission (NUC) that all universities should teach entrepreneurship to all students so that they can employ themselves on graduating.

It appears that the main function of those in many international organization and in government in many Developing nations for many decades so far has been to deceive the ordinary people that the common problems facing the developing nations of today have no solutions. The truth is to all problems there are solutions.

To develop, Level of Self Employment (LOSE) must be reduced. LOSE in USA and Britain was about 9%, in newly Industrializing Countries like Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, and Malaysia, LOSE was about 25%, whereas in developing nations, Like Africa, Latin America and some Asian countries, LOSE was about 50%. The result of the study shows that national productivity is inversely related to LOSE. That is, Entrepreneurship and self-employment must be reduced to facilitate and improve national productivity: A Theory.

An excerpts from the book titled "SOLUTION TO MASS UNEMPLOYMENT IN NIGERIA" by Professor F.E. Ogbimi Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State.

To be continued later.

By

SALAAM Taiwo Afeez
07035480650, salamitaiwoafeezf@yahoo.com

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