By Dr. Ahmed Adamu
When we had Youth Round Table Discussion with the Nigerian
Senate President in October 2017, I made some comments regarding unemployment,
which I would like to expatiate below.
As at last quarter of 2016, the Nigerian unemployment rate
was 14.2%, which means in every 100 Nigerians at least 14 of them are
unemployed, which means they are capable and willing to get a job, but they
cannot get one. Policy makers and commentators usually rely on this misleading
indicator, which is why most of unemployment policies do not work. The reported
unemployment rate is discriminating, misleading, and conservative, because, it
left out large number of other people who do not have job.
There are people who are willing to get job, but they are
not capable to get one, there are others who are not capable and not willing to
get job due to some conditions, and there are others who have a job that is
equivalent to none. These set of people could be a liability to the economy and
detrimental to the overall welfare of the economy, but many times they are
excluded in designing and implementing policies or programmes in addressing
unemployment. They need intervention too, and if they are not considered, the
resultant negativity from their conditions will outweigh the resultant benefits
of the interventions on the narrowed targeted unemployed. And that is why
unemployment has continued to be an issue for every administration. Accounting
for these three missing set of people, real unemployment rate in Nigeria can
reach up to 60%.
Let us start with the first excluded set of people- Those
that are willing to get job, but are not capable or qualified to get job. Due
to change in structure of the economy and fast paced civilisation and
technology, many Jobs became outdated and no longer required, while new jobs
suitable for new opportunities have emerged, but due to unreflective school
curriculums and lack of willingness to learn, many job opportunities cannot be
explored or acquired. The skills mismatch created unnecessary unemployment. So,
failure to track structural change or labour market demand has made many
employment creation policies unproductive. Therefore, policies must be framed
to activate those latent job opportunities.
The second set of people are those that due to their
background or societal expectations, they are not willing, neither capable to
get a job. These exclude children, but include people like street beggars,
widows, elderly people, sick people, physically challenged people, hopeless people
etc. These set of people require strategic and special intervention, and they
should not be excluded in designing policies or programmes. And this is why
many employment policies have not been very effective, because it was not
inclusive.
The last discriminated group are those people that have a
job that is equivalent to nothing, because, they earn so little that they
cannot sustain themselves for a week with their income. When you see these
people, they would not look much different from the previous two groups. As
inflation increases, these people become poorer due to their static income, as
such policies should be in place to accommodate these set of semi-unemployed
people. Wages should be proportionate to inflation, and by years spent on a
job. Alternatively, these set of people can fall under interventions that
prepare them for much more competitive jobs.
In addressing unemployment, we have to look into the root
cause of it. Increasing unproductive and inefficient population can make all
employment policies ineffective. What economy wants is additional capable and
quality population. Adding low quality population will add more burden to the
economy. It is important to revisit how we manage our abundant and ever increasing
population strategically; otherwise Law of diminishing return will apply or is
applicable in Nigeria. To put it into perspective, it is like a manufacturing company
employing and paying for labourers that can barely produce one product in a
month. The company will soon become bankrupt.
In addition to the growing unproductive population, most
people wait and expect from government to fix their problems or provide
solutions to their unemployment. Failure of people to take responsibility of
their situations made it impossible for government to fix everybody. Therefore,
policies must be in place to enforce learning and self responsibility. People
must create vision and commit to becoming self reliant, and this can only be
possible if people are willing to learn and acquire knowledge and skills. This
does not mean acquiring certificates, but relevant information and capacity to
make them productive or employable.
Emphasis on certificates when it comes to recruitment in
public and private sectors is what led to the chronic and rising unemployment
in Nigeria. The competition should be on skills and ability, not just on a
paper. People do not carry papers along; they carry their brains and hands. So,
invest and appreciate brains and hands, not papers. Leaders and employers
should be rewarding skills not just qualification, we shall be asking what can
we do, not what qualification we have. How much we receive as income should be based
on what we can do, not the degrees we have.
This brings the need for changing values especially among
young Nigerians. The young generation should focus on value addition and
improving their personal capacity and skills, not chasing for wealth at all
cost. If we do that, we will improve the quality of our lives, create jobs and
the wealth will come naturally. We will have to go out of our comfort zone, get
rid of egoism, take menial jobs, learn little skills, and be willing to acquire
relevant education and skills.
Education budgets are also discriminating, because it
targets only those that go to school, while education funds are supposed to be
for all including non-schooling population. This is the genesis of rising
unemployment, knowledge acquisition is for all, and once some groups are
excluded from education, they are then prepared for unemployment. Similarly,
educational curriculums have been outdated, and schools now produce graduates
for the jobs that no longer exist. So, there is need for review of curriculums
and a shift from theory based teaching to skills and practical based teaching
approaches.
Finally, empowerment programmes should not be discriminated
too, they should not be limited to only those with certificates or ability to
write convincing language, but to those that have genuine ideas and skills even
if they cannot access internet or write an application. Poor infrastructure,
especially lack of stable electricity supply will continue to hinder any
employment policy. Small skilled labour should be professionalized, so that
when people engage in such small skill labour work, it will be counted as part
of their professional work experience, and the wages for small skill labour
should be standardised and regulated. Most importantly, every individual must
commit to work on his/her personal development and improving his/her capacities
and capabilities, without this, no policy or intervention will make difference
in the lives of the people.
Dr. Ahmed Adamu
University Lecturer (Economics),
Umaru Musa Yar’adua University Katsina,
Development Expert, Leadership
and Personal Development Coach,
First Elected Global President
of Commonwealth Youth Council,
08034458189, 08188949144.
