UNEMPLOYMENT is a state in which a person of working age who is able and willing to work is unable to find paid employment that will engage him or her in productive ventures.
It is also a situation whereby people that are qualified with relevant skills, be they technical or educational, cannot find a suitable environment in which to practice their trade or profession.
A pathetic sight in most of our villages, towns and cities is the large army of unemployment people roaming the streets.
Year in, year out, various institutions of higher learning turn out graduates in large numbers. Sadly, there are no jobs for these graduates. Many of them therefore resort to armed robbery or burglary “to keep body and soul together.”
In addition to these factors is the economy. Many factories and industries have closed down, causing their workers to become unemployed overnight. These workers often find ways to survive by engaging in various infamous activities.
To address the problem, government can directly engage the services of the unemployed to fill up vacancies in some of its establishments, especially the educational and agricultural sectors. Also, it should encourage the private sector to establish more factories and industries to provide massive employment.
Government should also pay sincere and adequate attention to agriculture. It should make it attractive. This will not only make jobs available for graduates, but also provide food in large quantities for the teeming population. In addition, raw materials will be produced to feed the factories and industries established.
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Our target is to make 100,000 Nigerian youths, gainfully employed by 2020 —NBC