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Haruna Magaji

Unemployment:  How Nigerian Youths Can Create Jobs

By Samuel Ndu

It is no longer news that Nigerian is one of the top ranking in the list of countries who can no longer provide job for its teaming population. So many factors contributed to this, chiefly among them is corruption. Corruption is one cankerworm that has eaten deep into the fabrics of our dear nation, its magnitude in our society can be best compared to the destructive prowess of nightfall in J P Clerk’s “Nightfall”. The poet wrote. ”Nightfall comes like a dreaded disease seeping through the pores of a heathy body and ravaging it beyond repair.” experts says it will require serious commitment on the part of both government and every Nigeria to stem the tide.

Corruption, which has permeated the entire social structure of Nigeria, has robbed the country of developing a vibrant economic base. Funds meant for development projects such as localization of industries have been misappropriated, diverted, or embezzled and stashed away in foreign banks, while some incompetent and corrupt bureaucrats and administrators in the public enterprises and parastatals have liquidated these organizations

But while efforts are put in place to battle corruption and reinvigorate the once buoyant economy, wisdom demands that Nigerian unemployed populace, especially graduates thinks outside the box. Any graduate in this era who still hope and believe in the elusive job promise by the government is doing himself double damage.

Aside corruption, another identified causes of youth unemployment in Nigeria is the rapidly growing urban labour force, arising from rural urban migration orchestrated by rapid population growth. Going by the 2006 census in Nigeria, the nation’s population was put at 140,431,790 and projections for the future indicate that the population could be over 180 million by the year 2020, given the annual growth rate of 3.2 percent

Regardless of the above unpalatable indices, Nigeria as a country has numerous business and investment potentials due to the abundant, vibrant and dynamic human and natural resources it possesses. Tapping these resources require the ability to identify potentially useful and economically viable fields of endeavours. Nigerians have made their marks in diverse fields such as science, technology, academics, business and agriculture entertainment etc.

Agriculture is on sector that has the capability to sustain a nation if properly harnessed there are numerous lucrative  aspects such as fish farming, snail rearing, poultry grass cutter rearing, cassava farming to mention  a few. It is sufficient not to forget that Nigeria’s main stay as a nation before the discovery of oil in the Niger delta was agriculture. The groundnut pyramid in the north, cocoa farming in the west and oil palm in the east and mid- west Nigeria; these were the country’s major source of foreign exchange earnings.

ICT is another area of great and immeasurable potentials that millions of people around the world are making great fortune from, opportunities in this area include blogging, website designing, software development, online networking, hardware repairs etc one good thing about ICT is that it requires little or no formal education to master.

How about skills in soap making, cosmetics, baking and confectionaries, decorations. most often than not, these skills are  underestimated, although they may be classified as small and medium scale enterprise, but the fact remains that they are the real machineries that drive the economy of any country

Also, great opportunities abound in the fashion and entertainment world, entertainment has helped shaped the economic fortunes of many countries such as US, china, India and lately Nigeria. Everyone has an inherent talent, discovering these talents early enough will go a long way in shaping the future of the individual. Ask yourself the question, what is my talent and how can I discover it.

For those who are undergoing their one year compulsory service to father land. Hey! Stop basking in that euphoria, for u may soon discover that the father land you are serving under the sun and in the rain may not reward you in return. It will be more profitable for you to get yourself a skill that will sustain you when 19,500 naira allowance alert is suspended.

And if you are still in school, wisdom is profitable to direct you to start thinking beyond the shored of the university,. Hear it now, there is no job anywhere, but the god news is that you can create your own job and become an employer of labour. Get involved in a skill, this is what will give you an edge over your contemporaries.

It is high time graduates begin to look beyond certificate and start craving for skills, a combination of both will make the holder an asset. In technologically developed countries of the world such China, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan and Taiwan, high premium is placed on skills rather than certification.

The onus therefore lies on the individual either to take advantage of the opportunities available to create wealth and become self-reliance or continue to depend and hope on the government. There is no job anywhere, take a step today and protect your future and that of the unborn generation. A stitch in time saves nine.

 

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Haruna Magaji: Haruna Magaji is a journalist, foreign policy expert and closet musician. He is a graduate of ABU Zaria and a member of the Nigerian union of journalists. JSA, as he is fondly called, resides in Suleja, Abuja. email him at - harunamagaji@financialwatchngr.com
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