The federal government has been advised to implement policies that would address the high level of youth unemployment in the country. The call was made by Prof. Akpan Ekpo while reacting the the ongoing youth disturbances. Prof. Ekpo who is the founder, Foundation for Economic Research and Training, said the social unrest in Lagos State and some other parts of the country was fuelled by the high level of youth unemployment.
Nigeria’s unemployment rate as at the second quarter of 2020 was 27.1 per cent, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. This meant that about 21.7 million Nigerians are presently unemployed. As of the second quarter 2020, unemployment rate among young people (15-34years) was 34.9 per cent, higher than the 29.7 per cent it was as of the third quarter of 2018.
“I have been saying for years that our massive youth unemployment is a ticking time bomb waiting to explode. When you have such a national crisis of unemployment, it is the government that can address it and not the private sector.
“But the government has over the years been paying lip service to it. Now, it has exploded. Destruction in one or two weeks can take more than a year to recover. It all goes to show bad governance,” Ekpo, who is a former Director General, West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM), said. The former member of the Monetary Policy Committee noted that if such social unrest was prolonged, it could hurt the inflow of foreign investment.
“If this continues, foreign investors would not take us serious and this may discourage them from coming in. We carried on for days as if there is no leadership because the president of the country decided not to say anything,” he said.