Examining Youths’ Response to Skill Acquisition as Panacea to Unemployment in Nigeria

Abstract

The reactions of Nigeria’s youth to skill acquisition were examined. This was done using the Ile-Oluji/Oke-Igbo local government area as a case study. The research used both primary and secondary data. The former was through a structured questionnaire and oral interview schedule, while the latter was from the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics official website and other relevant bodies’ websites. A total of 400 respondents were randomly selected across the 10 zones of the Local Government. The results obtained showed that about 68% of the respondents were females, while 32% were males. About 34% of the respondents were self-employed with prevalent skills such as fashion, catering service, barbing and hairdressing, while 44% did not have any skills. Only 24% acquired skills for self-reliance, whereas 23% chose to pursue academic certificates ahead of skill acquisition. Peer influence was a factor which debars some of the respondents from acquiring skills. Other factors include lack of funds and epileptic power supply, which were represented by 18% and 10% of the youths, respectively. Another factor was early marriage, as about 5% got married early, and this stopped them from skill acquisition. The chi-square test carried out on the data at p-value ≤ 0.05 revealed that a significant percentage of the youths are not willing to acquire skills. Based on these premises, it is recommended that more orientation should be carried out about skills acquisition among the youths in Nigeria The contributory factors examined should also be addressed by relevant stakeholders to reduce the unemployment rate among our youths in Nigeria.