unemployment causes and solutions in nigeria
NIGERIA’S HIGH RATE OF UNEMPLOYMENT
18 Sep 2013
The government should move fast to curtail the scourge
The chairman of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Employment Programme (Sure-P), Dr. Christopher Kolade, has bemoaned the rising rate of unemployment in the country, saying that no fewer than 40 million Nigerians are without jobs. Even before Dr. Kolade spoke, Nigerians were already aware of the dire situation as unemployment rate in the country has been increasing over the years. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria’s unemployment rate averaged 14.60 per cent from 2006 until 2011, reaching an all time high of 23.90 per cent in December 2011. The NBS measures unemployment rate by the number of people actively looking for a job as a percentage of the labour force.
In its Economic Report on Nigeria released in May this year, the World Bank noted that “Nigeria’s annual growth rates that average over seven per cent in official data during the last decade place the nation among the fastest growing economies in the world noting that the growth has been concentrated particularly on trade and agriculture, which would suggest substantial welfare benefits for many Nigerians. Nevertheless, poverty reduction and job creation have not kept pace with population growth, implying social distress for an increasing number of Nigerians. Progress towards the fulfilment of many of the Millennium Development Goals has been slow, and the country ranked 153 out of 186 countries in the 2013 United Nations Human Development Index.”
According to the World Bank, “job creation in Nigeria has been inadequate to keep pace with the expanding working age population. The official unemployment rate had steadily increased from 12 per cent of the working age population in 2006 to 24 per cent in 2011. Preliminary indications are that this upward trend continued in 2012.”
In a similar observation in June, the Honorary International Investors Council (HIIC) pointed to
18 Sep 2013
The government should move fast to curtail the scourge
The chairman of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Employment Programme (Sure-P), Dr. Christopher Kolade, has bemoaned the rising rate of unemployment in the country, saying that no fewer than 40 million Nigerians are without jobs. Even before Dr. Kolade spoke, Nigerians were already aware of the dire situation as unemployment rate in the country has been increasing over the years. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria’s unemployment rate averaged 14.60 per cent from 2006 until 2011, reaching an all time high of 23.90 per cent in December 2011. The NBS measures unemployment rate by the number of people actively looking for a job as a percentage of the labour force.
In its Economic Report on Nigeria released in May this year, the World Bank noted that “Nigeria’s annual growth rates that average over seven per cent in official data during the last decade place the nation among the fastest growing economies in the world noting that the growth has been concentrated particularly on trade and agriculture, which would suggest substantial welfare benefits for many Nigerians. Nevertheless, poverty reduction and job creation have not kept pace with population growth, implying social distress for an increasing number of Nigerians. Progress towards the fulfilment of many of the Millennium Development Goals has been slow, and the country ranked 153 out of 186 countries in the 2013 United Nations Human Development Index.”
According to the World Bank, “job creation in Nigeria has been inadequate to keep pace with the expanding working age population. The official unemployment rate had steadily increased from 12 per cent of the working age population in 2006 to 24 per cent in 2011. Preliminary indications are that this upward trend continued in 2012.”
In a similar observation in June, the Honorary International Investors Council (HIIC) pointed to