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THE INFLUENCE OF YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT ON NIGERIAN SOCIETY

1-5 Chapters
Simple Percentage
NGN 4000

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY: It is impossible to place too much emphasis on the problem of young unemployment because of statements such as (2009), which stated that "Nigeria as a country is frequently labeled as a rich country majority of impoverished population where 50 percent of the citizen live below the poverty threshold." In Nigeria, unemployment has been a problem, particularly since the 1980s, when the nation's economy took a turn for the worse as a world petroleum price tumbled, the Nigerian currency became devalued, corruption became rampant, and the population of Nigeria ballooned at a breathtaking pace. The resultant poverty has posed question about the wisdom of conventional strategies for nation development, and both the government and the private sector have discussed this issue at various forums and conferences. Its prolonged existence had been related to Nigeria's inadequate electricity supply as well as its lack of financial empowerment (ILO 2021). According to Aganga (2010), the result of unemployment in Nigeria has been a rise in a variety of crimes and social vices including prostitution and online scams. The continuous prevalence of vices such as political violence, abduction, militancy (in the Niger delta), drug trafficking, armed robbery, and so on has been related to the lack of available jobs in Nigeria (ILO 2021). According to Aganga (2010), for example, the rate of prostitution increased during the middle of the 1990s due to an increase in the number of young Nigerian women who were trafficked to Italy. In addition, the use of internet scans has been on the rise in recent years, and political violence, kidnapping, and other vices have also been increasing recently. Concerns have been expressed, however, about the socioeconomic situation of young people and the prospects of creating additional livelihood opportunities for them. This is due to the fact that young people make up a significant portion of the labor force and that they have innovative ideals, both of which are essential components in the development process of the country (Irira, 2021). According to Gullins et al. (2008), unemployment is a condition in which a person who is able and willing to work normally depends upon his earning to provide the necessities of life for himself and family but is unable to obtain a gainful employment. In other words, unemployment is a condition in which a person is unable to provide the necessities of life for himself and family. According to Karl Pribram (2008), unemployment is a state of the labor market in which the supply of labor power is larger than the number of available openings. In other words, there are more people looking for work than there are jobs available. Ebere Nwero (2010) posited that most of the time, people blame the government for unemployment. However, they fail to see that in the government's effort to reduce the problem of unemployment in the country, it has initiated a variety of programs to create jobs for the youths and other people who are unemployed. Despite the fact that the Nigerian government has tried a number of different measures to get as many young people as possible into work through the N.Y.S.C. orientation program, which lasts for "Ebere" goes on to claim that the issue of unemployment may be resolved when young people give up their outdated and incorrect ways of thinking. dependency belief? People who have the idea that the government would automatically provide them with a job once they have completed their education or left school are setting themselves up to be disillusioned and disappointed (Irira, 2021). The growing social and economic problem that is related with the high unemployment rate among young people in the Odeda neighborhood served as the inspiration for the conception of this research.

1.2     Statement Of The Problem

The issues of the out come of unemployment in Nigeria has led to various crime and social vices such as prostitution internet scam, political violence kidnapping, armed rubbery among them however, the continual existence of these vices has been linked to the scarcity of job in Nigeria. Hence unemployment has been a thorn in the flesh of the youths of Odeda Local Government. It is therefore against this backdrop that the research work seeks to critically examine the effect of unemployment on youths in Nigeria society of Odeda Local Government Abeokuta, Ogun State.

1.3.1 Research Objectives

The general objective of this study was to explore the influence of youth unemployment on Nigerian society. Nigeria voices from Odeda community.

1.3.2 Specific objectives are to:

i). Explore youths’ views on the processes that they identify as necessary for them to be employed.

ii). Assess employers perception about youth unemployment.

iii). Determine to what extent does education prepare youth for self-employment.

iv). Determine the ways to solve youths’ unemployment problem in Nigeria.

1.4 Research Questions

i). What are the youths’ views on the processes that they identify as necessary for them to be employed?

ii). What are the employers’ perceptions about youth unemployment?

iii).  To what extent does education prepare youth for self-employment?

iv). What are the ways for solving the youth unemployment problem in Nigeria?

1.5 Scope of the Study  

This study was conducted in Odeda area  specifically in Odeda community in which the data was collected from different respondents such as Youths, Teachers and Employers of different institutions where by the aim is to secure information as guided by specific objectives of this study such as, to explore youths views on the processes that they identify as necessary for them to be employed, to assess Employers’ perception about youth unemployment as well as determination of ways for solving the youths’ unemployment problem in Nigeria.

1.5.2 Theoretical Scope

This study used two theories of employment: Human capital theory as developed by Smith, 1776/1937; Alfred Marshall, 1890/1930; and Irvin Fisher, 1906 and NeoClassical employment theories by Campbell and Brue, 1995, Davidson, 1990 to analyze the independent and dependent variables of youth unemployment in Odeda Community.

1.5.3 Content Scope

The study concentrated on two variables: The first one is challenges facing youths in the employment sector. This is independent variable and will be measured by the following factors: Youth’s level and type of education; family background and youth’s individual predisposition towards work. The second variable is characteristics of employment sector. This is the dependent variable that was measured by two factors: labor market regulations and the performance of economy and employers’ inclination about youths.

1.6 Significance of the Study

This study seeks to determine the effect of unemployment on youth in Nigeria and suggests the possible ways of solving the problem to ensure youth employment. The information on effect of unemployment on youth is very important to the government and policy makers for filling the policy gaps relating to country employments and in addressing the issue of unemployment.  

The results of the study are also important to the employers and other labor market players, for understanding the source of problems resulting in youth unemployment which account for a large share of the Nigerian labor force. But also, the study provides information to the youth themselves in the country to understand the causes of youth unemployment and the possible ways to tackle it. The study also adds to the literature by filling the knowledge gaps on the roots of youth unemployment and how the problem can possibly be addressed in the country.

1.7.1 Definition of Key of Terms

Youth unemployment refers to young people that are out of work. Given that one of the goals of this dissertation is to analyze this segment of the population, it is worth spending time defining the two terms separately. The first step will be to explain the concept of youth, followed by the definition of unemployment.

1.7.2 Youth

Due to several factors, such as society, institution, culture and regulations, the definition of youth can change significantly between and within countries. The age – group associated to young people is linked to the role they have in the society, based on legal, cultural and political aspects. For example, the definition of youth varies within Italy, in the North it’s considered between 14 and 29, in the South from 14 to32 (O’Higgins, 1997).

 In general, the varies definitions do not agree on the lower or upper bound of the agegroup. However, in economic terms the lower limit is set at the period of age when mandatory schooling ends, 15 years old. This dissertation will use the notation provided by UN, according to which: Youth comprises the age-group between fifteen and twenty- four inclusive’ (O’Higgins, 1997, p.6). Even though this age range embraces teenagers and young adults, this distinction will not be considered relevant for the purpose of this study.

1.7.3 Unemployment

Unemployment is defined as a situation where someone of working age is not able to get a job but would like to be in full time employment. Note: If a Mother left work to bring up a child or if someone went into higher education, they are not working but would not be classed as unemployed as they are not actively seeking employment (Tejvan, 2010)  

O’Higgins (1997) defined unemployment as a multidimensional concept which involves economic, politic and social dimensions. It is a difficult concept to define and measure since it depends on the economy of the areas, social settings, and culture and education system. According to the international labor organization, unemployment refer to those people who have not worked more than one hour during the short reference period but who are available for and actively Seeking work, due to the different understanding about the concept also (C.M.Ambilikile, 2004) defined unemployment as the number of people in a country who are willing and able to work but are unable to find jobs.

1.8 Chapter Summary  

The objective of this study was to assess the effect of unemployment on youth in Nigeria: - voices from Odeda community. Following the established aim of this research this chapter consists of the following; the introduction, background information, statement of the problem, scope of the study, geographical scope, theoretical scope, content scope, time scope, population scope, significant of the study,  not only that but also the study addressed four specific objectives as follows, to Explore youths’ views on the processes that they identify as necessary for them to be employed, to assess employers perception about youth unemployment, to determine to what extent does education prepare youth for self-employment, to determine the ways for solving the youth unemployment problem in Nigeria, also it presents the research questions, definition of key terms which includes youth  and unemployment definition. Chapter 2 presents the theoretical and empirical literature.

This is followed by chapter 3 that presents research methodologies. Chapter 4 dwells on data processing and data analysis and the last chapter; chapter 5 presents data output as well as recommendations.