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Causes of Unemployment In Nigeria

mosun-omotundePosted for Everyone to comment on, 5 years ago2 min read


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The rate of mass unemployment in Nigeria at an all time 18.8% high. This has been arguable said to be due to our devalued currency and corruption. However, a closer look at the big picture brings several other reasons to the fore;

1) High rate of population increase and changes in the composition of the labor force as higher proportion of women now seek to be wage earners & career focused and higher proportion of young boys and girls are entering the labor market much earlier than before.

2) The number of persons being educated far exceeds the employment opportunities available when they emerge from educational institutions.

3) Inappropriate public and private sector policies as regards salary/wage diversity, education selectivity and the pricing of educational services which only ends up making the value of education exceed its social value.

4) The way secondary education prepares our youths strictly for tertiary or University education ignoring the needs of majority who may wish to terminate their education at secondary level to venture into more relevant non-academic types of education.

5) Imbalance in government revenue and expenditure leading to huge debts and deficits.

6) Inadequate training and education systems producing applicants with obsolete skills that are not in tune with the rapid technological change.

7) Shortage of raw materials due to high costs of production, leading to mass organization downsizing and laying-off of workers.

8) Some private sector companies’ attitude in taking advantage of the economic crisis to retrench workers even when they are making profit.

9) The policy of some companies to place a restriction or embargo on recruitment following any and every business downtime.

10) The use of youth corpers, casual workers, outsourcing, temporary/contract appointment as cheap sources of labor.

It is hoped that as Nigeria gradually emerges out of recession, the situation would improve and both government and the major private sector players would come up with a development plan that would revitalize the economy of Nigeria, and thereby provide relevant strategies for combating unemployment and poverty in Nigeria.

**Cheers and thanks for reading!**

Original content published by me [here]

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