Youth unemployment in Nigeria: some implications for the third Millenium

Abstract

This paper emphasises the implications of youth unemployment in Nigeria, for the third Millennium. The implications are both social, economic and political. It is argued in the paper that youth unemployment is potentially dangerous as it sends disturbing signal to all segments of the Nigerian Society. The rate of youth unemployment in Nigeria is high, even at the period of economic normalcy i.e. the oil boom of the 1970s (6.2%); 1980s (9.8%) and the 1990s (11.5%). Youth unemployment therefore is not a recent phenomenon as is conveyed in the various tables in this paper. The theoretical standpoint of the paper is influenced by functionalist school of thought, with a bias for European school of modern ism which argues that youth play a central role in the overall survival of Nigeria. Ignoring the political, economic and social roles they play amounts to threatening the very survival of Nigeria as a nation. Thus to reduce unemployment, the paper suggests among others, the establishment of Work Incentive Programme (WIN) by the Nigerian State, as is done in the capitalist America. Government in league with the private sector it is further suggested, can create job corps for school dropouts as one major remedy to unemployment. The paper further sees hope for Nigeria only if Youths are mobilized by way of genuinely socializing them into taking their roles in the stratification system. Key Words: Nigeria; Unemployment; Political Stability; Youth; Work Incentive. (Global Journal of Social Sciences: 2003 2 (1): 21-26)