With the nation’s unemployment rate increasing yearly, while insecurity has continued to defile the nation’s quest for economic development, governments, at both federal and state levels, have devised various means of putting the teeming youths into meaningful employment. LEADERSHIP SUNDAY’s George Okojie, Lagos; David Akinadewo, Akure; ACHOR ABIMAJE, Jos; Muazu Elazeh, Katsina; Muazu Abari, Yola; Onyekaozulu Ofoma, Abakaliki; Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri; Salisu Ibrahim, Kano; and MATTHIAS? NWOGU, Umuahia, look into what the governments have been doing to curb the menace.
Although Nigeria is often referred to as the richest country in West Africa, unemployment has been a major problem in the country since 1980, when the nation’s economy took a nosedive.
While posing serious challenges to different governments across the country, the menace has been described as a “time bomb” that might explode anytime if no serious attention is paid in engaging the growing army of unemployed youths that have taken over the streets of the nation.
Youth unemployment has been a constant irritant to successive administrations in Nigeria, both at federal and state levels. With the huge number of graduates being produced yearly, the already saturated labour market can no long sustain the output, calling for government’s intervention.
The youths, being the strength of any nation, can no longer be ignored my any state, as failure to engage them in meaningful task has led some regions in the country to witness unrest and high level of criminality. Various state governments, however, have formulated different strategies to curb the spate of the unemployment menace.
The Lagos State Government, being aware of the importance of empowering the youths, has established the Agricultural Youth Empowerment Scheme, known as Agric-YES programme, located in the Epe axis of the state.
The state government had given the first 100 beneficiaries of the scheme, the sum of N4.5 million loan grant to establish their agricultural venture. The scheme is to train 1,000 youths in mechanised farming in the next five years. Already, two sets have been trained.
Through this scheme, the youths being trained are expected to make agriculture their means of livelihood.? The Agric-YES initiative was meant to empower youths and create employment in the area of agriculture.
Another area the state is handling its empowerment agenda is through the Enterprise Registration and Identification Agents (ENTRIDA) programme, aimed at collecting data on enterprises operating in the state and providing vacation jobs for the teeming undergraduates and unemployed youths.
Since the Babatunde Fashola-led administration’s inception in 2007, over 6,000 youths have been engaged in the programme, to collect data on micro and small businesses in the state for the publication of the Lagos Business Directory.
Also, the state government has started the Greening and Beautification Programme, which has created hundreds of jobs for erstwhile loafers and idlers in the state. Miscreants, who were once threats to people’s peace and security have been reformed and employed to clean and beautify the streets of Lagos.
More importantly, a new economy was also created in the area of horticulture and landscaping that made it possible for the hitherto unemployed young men and women to smile home with huge proceeds. Likewise, the state government has also set up skill acquisition centres where youths can acquire technical knowhow to be self-employed. To this end, the Lagos State Government has partnered frontline automobile firms to train no fewer than 640 auto-mechanics.
Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko-led administration has been able to tackle the problem of unemployment successfully.
When the administration came on board in February 2009, many steps were taken to engage the army of youths in gainful employment.
According to the state Commissioner for Employment and Productivity, Mr. Taye Akinyele, the unemployment issue was a great challenge for the Labour Party (LP) government, leading to the immediate engagement of about 1,500 youths into the Volunteer Corps who up till date are being paid N10,000 stipends monthly.
He said the government thereafter started the Wealth Creation Agency programme, part of which was the agric settlement in Ore in Odigbo Local Government Area of the state, where 2,000 unemployed graduates were engaged to practice agriculture and also being paid N10,000 on a monthly basis.
The government has also recently engaged 50 youths in Akure, the state capital, in bakery business, as a pilot scheme, after which 50 unemployed youths would also be taken from the other 17 local government areas of the state.
In all, 900 youths would be taken from the labour market in the next few months. The government has also concluded arrangements to open window of loan for them at the end of their training at the state micro credit agency, so that they can in turn become employers of labour and be self-reliant.
The state government also engaged some youths in the Ministry of Transport to assist the police traffic officers, while others are with the other ministries, cleaning the roads, wetting the grasses, and cutting flowers to add to the beautification programme of the state government. In all, over 5,000 people have been engaged by the government since 2009.
Plateau State is not left out in the empowerment strategy, as the government has focus on three key aspects, of which the Agricultural Services Training Centre (ASTC) in Kassa is one. It is intended to encourage the youths to go into modern farming through proper training.
The state government has also purchase some vehicles and distributed over 300 mini-cabs and over 500 tricycles in the state, to engage the youths in employment. The state also has over 300 taxis on ground awaiting distribution.
The Katsina State Government has also introduced some youth empowerment strategies, part of which included the establishment of the Youth Craft Village and the planned introduction of Technology Incubation Centre. No fewer than 3,000 youths have been trained in different skills.
The state also has 10 Business Apprenticeship Centres (BATCs). They are established in different parts of the state, but stakeholders however believe that the centres are mere political showcase. The state government, in collaboration with the Small and Medium Enterprises Agency (SMEDAN), also established the Katsina Business Support Centre to essentially train and monitor small businesses.
In Adamawa State, the Governor Murtala Nyako-led administration has formulated comprehensive strategies and programmes to curb the menace of unemployment in the state.
The state has a three-phase approach under the skills acquisition programme: the first phase is a graduate cadre where unemployed graduates are enrolled into a six-month vocational training programme during which period they are paid stipends and provided with financial supports and equipment to start up their business at the end of the training programme.?
The second phase is the technical training programme, which is sub-divided into vocational technical, professional technical training and specialised works technical trainings. Unemployed youths are enrolled into a three-year training programme during which some of them are selected to sit for the SSCE.
The vocational technical training covers basic engineering, technology concepts and acquisition of related basic skills with three vocational training centres established in three senatorial districts of the state located in Mubi, Yola and Mayo-Belwa local government areas and each admits 210 students and up to 70 per cent of the participants are expected to qualify for higher professional technical training.
The third category is the local apprenticeship skills meant only for the illiterates. They are trained in automobile repairs, tailoring, and generator repairs, among others. All the centres are expected to produce 2,300 technicians yearly.
Another strategy in the state is in the area of agriculture. The state has a programme called Farming Skills Acquisition Programme (FSAP) which entails establishing in each of the local government area, a farming skill acquisition centre where world best practices in agricultural production are imparted.
In Ebonyi State, the present administration of Governor Martin Elechi has embarked on moral and general ethical re-orientation of the youths in the state. The State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development is currently compiling the list of unemployed youths in the state, as directed by the governor.?
Already, the state government has sponsored over 200 Ebonyi youths to Songhai Agricultural Farms in the Republic of Benin for special training in different areas of agricultural production. These youths have already been provided with funds to start off different farms in Ebonyi State. Some of the beneficiaries were given N2.7 million each to set up farm settlements across the state.
Aside agriculture, the state government is also exploring other means of engaging the youths of the state in meaningful employment. For instance, during his Democracy Day celebration, the governor had announced automatic employment for 50 able-bodied youths. Their job, according the Governor Elechi, was to deflate the tyres of all illegally parked vehicles daily along the streets of the state capital.
In Imo State, no fewer than 750 unemployed youths benefit from the poverty alleviation programme annually. The empowerment ranges from skills acquisition to micro soft loans, aimed at reducing unemployment in the state.
The state government has also ensured the training of youths in areas like ICT, fashion designing, barbing, bead making and catering through 27 co-ordinators employed by the government.
Also, in three successive graduations, the Kano State Government, under Dr. Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, has generated job opportunities to 800 unemployed youths in the state.
Through Lafiya Jari, a programme initiated to solve the unemployment problem of the state, the government has spent over N800 million in training youths in basic skills in the sales of drugs across the state, all in a bid to improve the health condition of the citizenry. The 800 youths are to set up drug shops across the 44 local government areas in the state.
At a ceremony held at the Government House to graduate the fourth batch recipients, beneficiaries received N150,000 each and a N50,000 assistance to rent a shop. Under the programme, the state government is to provide beneficiaries with N100,000 worth of drugs, to be made available by the Kano State Drug Supply Company, in addition to a N50,000 support to each of the beneficiaries to rent a shop in their local government areas of operation.
The N100,000 worth of drugs is to be paid without any interest to the government within a period of 18 months. Beneficiaries were drawn from all the 44 local government areas of the state, and were made to undergo a three-week intensive training programme at the newly established Entrepreneurship Development Institute, where they were taught various skills on how to manage the business successfully.
Coordinator of the Entrepreneurship programme, a renowned expert, Alhaji Bala Muhammad said the unit has been graduating youths on how to be productive and useful to their communities by avoiding dangerous practices that can lure them into unethical practices. Also, an estimated 3,800 people have completed the health-related courses in the state.
In Abia State, the government is tackling the malaise affecting male enrolment in educational institutions. The state empowerment programme is being carried out through the Abia State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (ASOPADEC) which pays monthly stipends to a number of youths.
The commission gives equipment to graduates of the different skill acquisition centres, established by the state government to combat unemployment. The Ministry of Local Government recently distributed 250 tricycles freely to unemployed youths, courtesy of the Abia State Youth Empowerment Scheme.
The state government has also spent the sum of N1 billion on State Agricultural Loans Scheme for youths engaged in agricultural produce, to make the youths in the state part of the economic development plan.