Youth Unemployment and Poverty in Nigeria PDF

International Journal of Sociology and Anthropology Research
Vol.1, No.2, pp.23-39, May 2015

___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org)
YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT AND POVERTY IN NIGERIA

ODUWOLE, TAJUDEEN ADEBOWALE
Department of Sociology, Faculty of Liberal Arts,
Hodegbe North American University Benin,
Route de Porto-Novo, Cotonou,
Republique du Benin
ABSTRACT: Unemployment and poverty are both reflective and precipitants of plethora of
contemporary societal challenges such as leadership, security, governance, etc. that are
inimical to human social – existence (for engendering adequate human capacity building and
material utilisation) globally. For instance, the National Bureau of Statistics in Nigeria
revealed the alarming rate of youth unemployment which is as much as 50%. Considering the
fact that, the current population growth rate is put at 2.8 per annum in Nigeria which
accompanies an already national population of over 167 million people. Therefore, the extent
to which these challenges possess to the nation is remarkably worrisome in recent times, is the
escalating and worrisome rate of youth unemployment which has assumed an alarming
crescendo. It is against this backdrop, the paper sees to its justification the need to see to its
imperativeness with a view of given cogent attention for their needs. Hence, this paper
examines “the intimate connection between unemployment and poverty, and how these two
phenomena affect the youth in Nigeria”. In order to fulfill the objectives of this paper, relevant
literature were consulted and established database explored for holistic and comparative
study, to illustrate the mitigation and enabling factors for the realization of the objectives of
youth employment and poverty alleviation if not total eradication in the society – Nigeria. With
the aid of content analyses of the materials explored: this paper contend that fundamentally,
there is a close nexus between poverty and unemployment with direct bearings on the critical
segment of the society, particularly the youth. Also, inspite of the myriad policies and
programmes initiated by successive Nigerian government such as National Economic
Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS), Subsidy Re-Investment and Empowerment
Programme (SURE-P), National Directorate of Employment (NDE), National Youth Service
Corps (NYSC) Schemes in Nigeria, as lofty and laudable as they seem, their inability to affect
the real target (youth), reflects the lacuna between policy formulation and implementation. The
thrust of this paper therefore is its strong proposition to government at all levels to demonstrate
a commitment towards responsive governance, with focus on jobs creation and eradication of
poverty. In addition, appropriate authorities should endeavor to sensitize the citizens on the
need to embrace birth control measures for the purpose of engendering sustainable
development.
KEYWORDS: Youth, Unemployment, Poverty, Population and Development
INTRODUCTION
Unemployment and poverty are both reflective and precipitants of plethora of contemporary
societal challenges such as leadership, security, governance, etc that are inimical to human
social-existence (for engendering adequate human capacity building and material utilisation)
globally. Therefore, a great vision of Nigerian government is premised on becoming one of the
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20 most industrialised economies in the world by the year 2020. Attainment of this aspiration
hinges on the extent to which the country is able to create and nurture, a competitive and
adaptive human resource base, responsive to the rapidly industrializing and globalizing
economy. The paper is mindful of the fact that vision 20:2020 designed by the Nigerian
government is five years away. Equally and poignantly is to remind ourselves that the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), (we are already in its target: year 2015).Hence its
assessment. In spite of all lofty ideas inherent in these programmes, what is crystal clear is that
poverty is still enormously ravaging the land. What becomes more worrisome is considering
the teaming population of unemployed graduate youths in the country.
Unemployment or joblessness as defined by the International Labour Organisation (1982)
occurs when people are without jobs and they have sought work within the past five weeks.
The unemployment rate is a measure of the prevalence of unemployment and it is calculated
as a percentage by dividing the number of unemployed individuals by all individuals currently
in the labour force. Unemployment in Nigeria is defined as the proportion of labour force that
was available for work but did not work in the week preceding the survey period for at least 39
hours. Official figures from Bureau of Statistics puts the figure of unemployed at 19.70 percent,
about 30 million, but this figure still did not include about 40 million other Nigerian youths
captured in World Bank Statistics in 2010. By implication, it means that if Nigeria’s population
is 160 million plus, then 50 percent or more of Nigerians are unemployed, Njoku and Okezie
(2011) asserted.
On the other hand, poverty which has become contentious, has evolved historically, overtime,
and varies among nations in magnitude and in scope. There are as many definitions of the
concept as there are scholars, analysts, people and institutions writing on the issue. The
eradication of poverty has been declared by the United Nations World Summit of Social
Development in 1995 as unfinished business of the 21st century, Oladeji (2011) asserted. As a
background for proper appreciation of the intricate relationship between poverty,
unemployment and youth, some conceptual clarification is needful of the definitions and
measurement of poverty. An available statistical fact on poverty in Nigeria as cited in Oladeji,
(2011) indicates the following, inter-alia:
i 35% of population lives in extreme poverty
ii 34% are poor in relative terms
iiialmost 52% live on less than a dollar a day
iv poverty incidence is highest in North East Zone (63%), followed by North West
(62.9%), North Central (62.3%), South-South (51.1%), South West (42%) and South
East (34.3%).
v. about 63% of people living in the rural areas are poor, compared with 42% in urban
areas (National Planning Commission (2007): Nigeria Millennium Development Goals
2006 Report).
The foregoing statistical information are not mere imagination or impressions, rather they have
been generated by some scientific procedure using some measures of poverty. The
multidimensionality of poverty has been stressed and succinctly expressed in the Copenhagen
Declaration on Social Development in the following manner: “Poverty has a various
manifestations, including (as cited in Oladeji, 2011).
i. lack of income and productive resources sufficient to ensure sustainable livelihoods.
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ii. hunger and malnutrition

iii. ill health
iv. limited or lack of access to education and other basic services
v. increased morbidity and mortality from illness
vi. homelessness and inadequate housing
vii. unsafe environments and social discrimination and exclusion
viii. lack of participation and exclusion
ix. lack of participation in decision-making and in civil, social and cultural life “(World
Summit for Social Development, Copenhagen, 1995).
The multidimensional nature of poverty is what has given rise to the plurality of definitions,
measurements and its conceptualization. By and large; what seems to be a common stand in
academic literature as regard this subject matter is that, there are universally accepted indicators
of what constitutes poverty and these indicators categorize poverty into absolute poverty,
relative poverty and material poverty. Both the classical and classic submission on this subject
matter (poverty) shall be unveiled in the subsequent sub-sections of the paper.
Furthermore, the National Youth Development Policy (2001) asserts that the youth are the
foundation of a society; their energies, inventiveness, character and orientation define the
pattern of development and security of a nation. The youth are a particular segment of the
national population that is sensitive, energetic, active and the most productive phase of life as
citizens. The youth are also most volatile and yet the most vulnerable segment of the
population in terms of social-economic, emotion and other aspects (Anasi, 2010). These entities
called youth has gained a wide currency and has been variously classified into such age
brackets as 15-24 years (World Bank and United Nations); 15-29 years (Commonwealth Youth
Programmes); while for many countries, the figure varies from 13-18 years, 20-25 years, and
12-20 years (Bello-Kano, 2008).
Moreover, in Nigeria context, the National Youth Development Policy (2001) defines youth as
people aged between 18 and 35. And they constitutes “all young males and females aged 18-
35 which are citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria” (National Youth Policy of Nigeria,
2001:4). The paper is attuned to this position. The youth constitute about 60 percent of the
more than 160 million people of Nigeria. The Nigeria‘s unemployment rate is projected at
over 11 percent compared to the average rate of 9.5 percent in sub-Saharan Africa. According
to the National Bureau of Statistics (2004), young people aged between 15 and 24 years account
for 52.9 percent of unemployed people while those aged between 25 and 44 years accounted
for 41.1 percent. Therefore, those in age bracket of 15 and 44 years account for 94 percent of
the total unemployed persons in Nigeria (Osibanjo, 2006). Based on series of conceptualization
of youth in available literature, the paper aligned with the definition given by National Youth
Policy of Nigeria (2001). Therefore, the youth is conceived to mean male and female within
the age bracket of 18 - 35 who are citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Also, the term “development” has been variously conceptualized by scholars and writers. The
like of (Rodney, 1972; Nnoli, 1981) serves as an inroad to gaining a shared understanding of
the term national development. The conceptualization of development according to Rodney
and Nnoli (1972 and 1981) respectively can be subsumed as follows:
- human-centered rather than artifacts-centered.
- a dynamic process rather than a static state,
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- involves a complex interactive relationship between individual and society and

- predicated essentially on production rather than on consumption.
Viewed from this perspective (national development) could, therefore, be defined as the
unending process of qualitative and quantitative transformation in the capacity of a state to
organize the process of production and distribution of the material benefits of society in a
manner that sustains improvement in the wellbeing of its individual members in order to
enhance their capacity to realise their full potentials, in furtherance of the positive
transformation and sustenance of their society and humanity at large (Onuoha, 2007).
Remarkably, at the just concluded 2015 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Youth unemployment took a center stage. The panel discussion comprising of many global
business and public sector leaders who were in Davos, engaged in debate, unanimously agreed
that youth unemployment is growing in uncomfortable proportions. Available statistics
revealed that, in India as at 2013 recorded a total population of 1.27 billion people with youth
(aging between 14 and 30 years) constituting 65% of the population, and an annual growth rate
(the fastest of which was recorded between 2001 and 2011, when about 181 million people
were added to the population). The current projection has also indicated that by 2025, the
country would have overtaken China as the most populous country in the world with an
estimated population of 1.44 billion people. The country has one of the highest number of
youth in the world out of which 75 million youth are unemployed (even when more than one
million people are added to the unemployed labour market on daily basis). Similarly, the
National Bureau of Statistics in Nigeria revealed the alarming rate of youth unemployment
which is as much as 50%, out of the country’s 167 million population.
Considering the enormity of this challenge, Roberts (2007) opines that to realize the potentials
of youths as the engine of (poverty alleviation and social-economic) development,
governments have a salient role to play in addressing these obstacles and facilitating a
successful transition to adulthood through pursuit of programmes and policies that alleviate
poverty and expand opportunities for employment. Development and sustainability inclusive.
It is in light of this introduction, and the need to proffering solution to the problems of youth
unemployment and poverty that the paper is germane.
Objective of the Paper

The only and paramount objective of the paper is to
i. Scrutinize youth unemployment and poverty in other to engender development in all its
ramifications in Nigeria.
LITERATURE/THEORETICAL UNDERPINNING
Situation Analysis of Youths, Unemployment and Poverty in Nigeria
Youth in Nigeria
Youth-hood can be defined as that phase or period of life in which one passes from childhood
to maturity. Maturity on the other hand refers to a situation whereby one becomes fully
developed. In Nigeria, the youth usually fall into the 18 – 35 years age bracket, that is, both
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genders (male and female) (Abdullahi, 2008) affirmed National Youth Policy
conceptualization of youth as defined in Nigeria context.
Generally, youths are the one of the greatest assets that any nation can have and therefore, need
to be developed and empowered. They serve as a good measure of the extent to which a country
can reproduce as well as sustain itself. The youth have been described as the greatest in any
nation, are the greatest investment for a country’s development (National Youth Policy of
Nigeria, 2001).
Over the years, various regimes came up with programmes for youth empowerment and skill
acquisition for self-reliance and sustainable livelihood (Project YES 2003). At this point, it is
observe that despite all governmental efforts at youth empowerment, through some of her
institutions like the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) and Ministry of Women and
Youth Development, the Nigerian Youth still command high position in the statistics of
unemployment and poverty. The sub-section will enable us to critically and demographically
examine the nature of youth employment and risks of poverty as detailed below.
Youth Unemployment in Nigeria

Nigeria’s population is said to have reached about 167 million people in 2012 (National Bureau
of Statistics). The National Population Commission (NPC, 2013) states about half of the
population is made of youth, defined as individuals between 18 and 35 years of age. Akande
(2014) further stressed that, unfortunately, as the youth population grows so does the
unemployment rise. In fact, unemployed youth numbered about 11.1 million in 2012.
There are number of trends in youth unemployment in Nigeria. The tables below indicate the
trends over the years.
Table 1: National Youth Unemployment Figures by Gender.
Year Percentage of unemployed Youth that are Female and Male
Female Male
2008 58.50 41.50
2009 57.82 42.18
2010 54.52 45.48
2011 50.85 49.15
2012 55.42 44.58
Source: NISER, 2013

Available statistics, from the table 1 as indicated above show that a majority of unemployed
youth are female. Women accounted for more than 50 percent of unemployed youth between
2008 and 2012. Many reasons have been adduced for female gender unemployment. Empirical
evidences have revealed that the female gender generally experience poverty more than male
gender as a result of unemployment.
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Payne (1991:87) and Abdullahi (2004) observe that (female) specific risk of poverty stems
from the structuring of (female) economic dependency, within families and marriage and in the
sexual division of labour that come together to create a gendered vulnerability to poverty and
deprivation.
Table 2: Graduate Unemployment Rate 2003 – 2011 by Residence (Rural/Urban)
Year Rural Urban Total
2003 8.3 17.3 25.6
2004 12.8 25.2 38
2005 13.3 19.0 32.3
2006 13.4 18.8 32.2
2007 13.4 18.7 32.1
2008 21.7 15.8 27.5
2009 19.8 19.2 39
2010 20.7 22.8 43.5
2011 25.6 17.1 42.7
Sources: The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS, 2012)

Table 2 indicates that the problem of youth (graduate) unemployment is critical in both urban
and rural Nigeria. The major significance inferences from the table shown above is that, for a
period of nine years compared in totality, graduate youth unemployment was high six years in
urban as compared to the rural areas. This could be attributed to migration indices – pull and
push factors. In addition, considering 42.7 percent as the total population of unemployed youth
(graduate) as at 2011 compare with the current population of about 50 percent (unemployed
youth) of the total population of Nigeria (167 million) gives credence to the statistics revealed
as at 2011 as credible. Simply because, the total population of Nigeria as at 2015 have increased
compared to 2011. Therefore, there could be possibilities.
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Table 3: National Youth Unemployment Figures (15 – 34 years) by Education, 2008 –

2012
Relatedly, in terms of education, from 2008 – 2012, over half of unemployed youth did not
have an education past primary schools (see figure/table 3). This particular group has
consistently accounted for over 50 percent of all unemployed youth. However, graduates of
tertiary institutions also seem to be badly hit by unemployment too – making up about 20
percent of youth unemployment as indicated in the table 3 above. And often remaining
unemployed for upward five years after graduation (NISER, 2013).
Reasons for the Failure of Government Programmes as regard Poverty and

Unemployment in Nigeria
By and large, youth‘s unemployment in Nigeria is a consequence of several factors. One major
factors is that of population growth. There is a high population growth rate – 2.8 per annum,
according to the World Bank (2014) which accompanies an already national population of over
167 million people, Akande (2014) asserted. Nigeria has continued to experience high rate of
population growth. This increasing population growth has produced an overwhelming increase
in the youth population thereby resulting in an increase in the size of the working age
population. Related to the rapid population growth is the massive rural-urban migration by the
youth. According to the United Nations (UN) Report (1999), the high degree of geographical
mobility of youth in Africa is in form of rural to urban which has been influencing youth
unemployment. In Nigeria, youth migrate to the cities more than other migrants and in the
cities, job opportunities are very limited. Thus, the rate of urbanization of the youth has
continued to create unemployment.
In addition, lack of employable skills due to inappropriate school curricula is another factor
contributing to the rising youth unemployment. Analysts have argued that in Nigeria generally,
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the skills that job seekers possess do not match the needs and demands of employers (Mcgrath,
1999; Kent and Mushi, 1995).The trio affirmed that the education system in Nigeria has its
liberal bias which indeed over supplies the labour market with graduates who do not possess
the skills required by employers. Many graduates in Nigeria lack entrepreneurial skills to
facilitate self-employment (Oladele, Akeke and Oladunjoye, 2011).
Similarly, the perception of policy makers and the youth themselves about employment is
another factor. To the policy makers and the youth, employment means a job with salary and
working for someone else. It is this perception that has continued to influence the institutions
in Nigeria that provide skills and training. Based on this, curricula and training programmes
are generally tailored towards preparing young people for formal sector jobs. Since these jobs
do not exist, there is often a mismatch between the skills possessed by the job seekers and the
available jobs. In this regard, evidence shows that Nigeria is committed to education reforms.
The promulgation of Decree 9 of 1993 created rooms for the establishment of private
institutions in the country. Following the deregulation of education in Nigeria, government
has encouraged the opening of private schools and universities. As at May, 2012, the total of
approved universities in Nigeria was 137, comprising of 37 federal government-owned, 50
states’ government- owned and 50 privately-owned universities. The aggressive creation of
more private and publicly-funded universities and colleges of technology has inadvertently
created an adverse disparity in job creation efforts. This is because Nigeria has not pursued a
commensurate job absorption strategy for the many graduates from these educational
institutions. Whereas universities have grown geometrically, jobs and employers have grown
at arithmetic progression. This gap in Nigeria strategic approach to job creation has led to the
supply of skilled graduates being higher than the demand in the economy thus driving down
wages and further increasing unemployment.
Related to this, among other factors responsible for youth unemployment are poor governance,
ineffective targeting of the poor resulting in resources being thinly spread among competing
projects, overlapping of functions, poor coordination and lack of sustainable measures (Musari,
2009). In response to the alarming unemployment situation, Nigerian governments at various
times have made several attempts to solve the nagging unemployment problem by setting up
various solution agencies. Notable among these agencies are the National Directorate of
Employment (NDE) and National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP). However, it is
on record that these attempts have not made much significant impact on youth unemployment
(Omorodion, 2010).
National Youth Policy – Review in Brief

At the global level, youth are highly recognized. The youth are regarded as the greatest assets
that any nation can have. They are seen as the center of reconstruction and development.
According to the World Development Report (2007) there are 1.3 billion people in the age
bracket (12-24) as the largest group ever. Close to 85 per cents of this over 1.3 billion young
men and women live in developing countries, this figure is projected to increase to 89 percent
by 2025.
To this end, Nigeria’s population is predominantly young. According to NPC (2006) Nigeria
has a population of one hundred and forty million people. Accordingly, the NBS (2012)
Projected Nigeria population to be over 160 million. One third of this population is conceived
to be between ages 10 to 24 years. The recognition of this fact led to the development of the
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National Youth Policy and the subsequent reviews of the policy. Fundamentally, the overall
policy goal of (NYP) is to provide and appropriate framework that will promote the enjoyment
of fundamental human rights and protect the health, social, economic and political well-being
of all young men and women in order to enhance their participation in the overall development
process and improve their quality of life.
Consequently, in pursuant of the policy goal, the National Youth Policy seeks to approach
youth problems from holistic (comprehensive) perspective so as to ensure the coverage of the
most critical elements. One of such critical element is what this paper considered to be
“Unemployment and Poverty” that the youth is seriously affected.
Available academic literature reveals that successive Nigerian government have played pivotal
roles in this regard (solution to unemployment and poverty alleviation). But inspite of the
myriad policies and programmes initiated by Nigerian government such as National Economic
Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS), Subsidy Re-Investment and
Empowerment Programme (SURE-P), National Directorate of Employment (NDE), National
Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Schemes, as lofty and laudable as they seem, their inability to
affect the real target (youth) tremendously, reflects the lacuna between policy formulation and
implementation. The dare consequences is what the paper tagged sociological implications of
poverty and unemployment in Nigeria.
Sociological Implications of Poverty and Unemployment in Nigeria

Nigeria as a nation has no doubt seriously underdeveloped the youth population, the
consequence of this abject neglect of the Nigerian youths on national security and economic
development are best imagined. A trip to all the crannies and corners of the Nigerian cities will
reveal the pathetic condition of the youths as a result of systemic disempowerment. To eke out
a leaving therefore, the devil finds useful tools in their hands to unleash their frustration on the
general society via hawking vandalized and adulterated petroleum products (South-South),
Urchins (area boys) syndrome in Lagos, South-West), while rabbles of militants in the Niger
Delta, Boko Haram in Maiduguri (North-East) on the part of the male youth, while the female
youths result to prostitution (call-girl) activities and other menial duties, a real life statistics
which could serve “better than official statistics in unraveling the extent to which Nigeria has
underdeveloped and or disempowered her youthful population arising from pervasive
unemployment and poverty in Nigeria” (Onuoha, 2008).
Theoretical Framework for Understanding Unemployment, Poverty and Development.
At this juncture, a sociological model is used to shed more light on the nexus of unemployment,
poverty and development in Nigeria. One of such sociological model that carefully explain the
context of unemployment in Nigeria is the theory of surplus value by Marx and Engels (1848)
and McLellan (2009). Marx believed that capitalist societies like Nigeria always had and would
have high levels of unemployment. He believed such economies went through cycles- periods
of expansion in which there was full employment which were followed by periods of crises
during which unemployment rose. Recoveries from crises were only temporary. Marx asserted
that capitalist economies worked in a way of favouring the few bourgeoisies, capitalist’s
property class at the expense of the large ploleritariat, working non-property class. In Marx’s
assertion:
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“It is in the very nature of the capitalist mode of production to overwork some
workers while keeping the rest as a reserve army of unemployed paupers”.
Marx (1848)
According to Marx, unemployment is inherent within the unstable capitalist system and
periodic crises of mass unemployment are to be expected. The function of the proletariat within
the capitalist system is to provide a "reserve army of labour" that creates downward pressure
on wages. This is accomplished by dividing the proletariat into surplus labour (employees) and
under-employment and unemployed as well (McLellan 2009). These reserve army of labour
fight among themselves for scarce jobs at lower and lower wages. At first glance,
unemployment seems inefficient since unemployed workers do not increase profits. However,
unemployment is profitable within the global capitalist system because unemployment lowers
wages which are costs from the perspective of the owners. From this perspective low wages
benefit the system by reducing economic rents but, it does not benefit workers. Capitalist
systems unfairly manipulate the market for labour by perpetuating unemployment which
lowers labourers' demands for fair wages. Workers are pitted against one another at the service
of increasing profits for owners. In Nigeria context, the Nigerian super-rich politicians together
with super-rich capitalists formed a cabal and logically established economic imperialism.
Economic and social policies formulated by the government are not in any way of benefit to
the common Nigerians.
The concept of “monkey dey work, baboon dey chop” (shrewd-capitalism) is well pre-eminent
in the country (as cited in Alabi, 2014). Workers are living at the mercy of the rich. These have
directly and indirectly continue to widen the gap between the rich and the poor. Young people
with skills, certificates and energies have nothing to offer as a result of mass unemployment,
but dance to the tune of the politicians who in turn used them to manipulate, rig and destabilized
elections. In most cases, after they have been used by their politician, they are dumped or left
to face their fate whenever the law catches up with. The few available jobs for the battalion of
youth job-seekers are politicized. Unless the job seeker is connected to a political god father
he may not get the job. According to Marx, the only way to permanently eliminate
unemployment would be to abolish capitalism and the system of forced competition for wages
and then shift to a socialist or communist economic system. For contemporary Marxists, the
existence of persistent unemployment is proof of the inability of capitalism to ensure full
employment.
In a similar vein, for a better theorizing on poverty as a social discourse, Townsend (1970) dug
into history of early men and proposed three alternatives. These are: Subsistence, basic needs
and relative deprivation standards. Therefore, in other to have a better conceptual
explication, the paper x-rays these three interlocutory thoughts on poverty. Absolute poverty
means the inability of a person or group to provide the material needs for physical subsistence
and protection of human dignity. These materials are food, clothing, shelter, water, health
services, basic education, transportation, and work because the persons or groups do not have
jobs or income (UNDP1996). Similarly, the idea of subsistence as subscribed by Townsend to
mean “families were in poverty when their income were sufficient to obtain minimum
necessaries for the maintenance of merely physical efficiency” and “family was treated as being
in poverty if its income minus rent fell short of the poverty line” (Rowntree, 1901:86). The
yardsticks for poverty line were equally stipulated as at that time in question, Townsend
stressed.
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Rhetorically, in Nigerian context of the N18,000.00 minimum wage: does it really meet up the
“subsistent” or “absolute” definition of poverty? If one should pay all necessary rents (such as
accommodation, transportation) just to mentioned a few, what would remain for food, shelter
and clothing? Absolute Poverty: is defined in terms of the minimal requirements necessary to
afford minimal standards of food, clothing, healthcare and shelter. This proposition on
“subsistence” or “absolute” definition of poverty is not left out without criticisms. The paper
observed the main criticism from scholars, is that the physical needs such as food, shelter and
clothing should rather be social needs. Because human beings are “social beings” rather than
physical beings. Townsend (1981), quickly wrote a rejoinder to this criticism, is that different
approach in principle has to be adopted, no unilinear measures or approaches to it.
Relative poverty on the other hand is the inability of certain sections of the society to satisfy
their basic needs as well as other needs. Equally, it has a long historical antecedent.
Drewnowski and Scott (1966) expressed that Basic needs include two elements. First, they
include certain minimum requirement of a family for private consumption: adequate food,
shelter and clothing, as well as certain household furniture and equipment. Second, they include
essential services provided by and for the community at large, such as safe drinking water,
sanitation, public transport and health, education and cultural facilities. Townsend (1970)
added that the concept of basic needs should be placed within the “context of a national
independence, the dignity of individuals and peoples and their freedom to chart their destiny
without hindrance” (ILO, 1976:20 – 25).
This above assertion reminds one, of the music of legendary Late Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s song
titled: “suffering and smiling”, when he expressed that “99 standing, 56 sitting” in a lousy
commuter bus, popularly known as “Molue” used mostly in Lagos State in the Late ‘80s and
early 2000. The contention of this submission is that, it is supposedly the responsibility of
government to provide essential social amenities that are befitting to the citizenry. This
consideration should be based on the economy strength of the nation. And of course, with
abundant wealth been generated from numerous natural resources, Nigerians have no cause
been poor. The problem that is very much likely to arise with this proposition which apparently
happens to be its major criticism, is the disproportionate poverty and deprivation as been
experiencing by over 320 ethnic groups in Nigeria, considering the geographical terrain of
various ethnic groups among their others social needs.
Furthermore, Material poverty is seen as the absence of ownership control of physical assets
as lands, and all other resources that land produce or that subsists on land as birds and animals
and mineral resources (UNDP, 1996).Townsend (1970) contributions to this, is what he tagged
“Relative Deprivation”. To him, the implied poverty line or threshold is relative to the
contemporaneous conditions or resources in particular national societies; suffices to say, people
do experience poverty based on geographical location they might find themselves and this is
very “relative”. The social needs and availability of resources to meet those needs are peculiar.
Hence, the paper adds “irrespective of geographical division in the federation, and in as much
as the citizens are within the ambit or geographical entity of a given country. Consideration
and assessment of poverty should be peculiarly assessed”. “Relativity” applies to both
resources and to material and social conditions, Townsend (1993) further stated. Relative
deprivation or Relative poverty measurement is further defined by reference to the living
standards of majority in a given society that separates the poor from the non-poor.
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Relating the discourse “Relative deprivation” or material poverty, that is explaining poverty in
Nigeria context for further illustrations. Officially, there are fifty seven Local Council
Development Areas (LCDAs) in Lagos state. The residents across these LCDAs are not
enjoying social amenities equally. Simply because, not as a result of lack of social facilities,
but majorly the geographical terrain where these LCDAs are located differ and the natural
terrain often serve as impediment to government in engendering better and equitable
distributions of social amenities to them. For instance, the coastal areas: Ibeju-Lekki, Eti-Osa,
Amuwo-Odofin compare to metropolitan and cosmopolitan areas of LCDAs. Hence, the
concept of “inequalities” to access development crippled the inhabitants of coastal areas
compared to inhabitants of both metropolitan and cosmopolitan areas. Thereby both would be
experiencing “relativity” in terms of poverty. Over many years, the “relativity” of meanings of
poverty has come to be recognized, in part if not comprehensively. Adam Smith, for example,
recognized the ways in which “necessities” were defined by custom in the early part of the
nineteenth century, citing the labourer’s need to wear a shirt as an example. (Smith, 1812).
Having looked at the concept of Poverty from both classical and classic assertions, what seems
common to both thoughts is “lack of basic facilities such as food, clothing, shelter, deprivation
and means to meet-up with basic necessities of life”. At this juncture, the paper contextually
attune with Onuoha (2007) in theorising Poverty to mean a situation of deprivation in which
an individual or group of individuals in a society lack the requisite resources, opportunities or
means of livelihood to lead a long, healthy, and satisfactory life by being unable to provide for
their basic life requirements such as water, food, shelter, clothing, sanitation and a minimum
level of medication. Hence, the concept of poverty now occupies center stage in development
discourse.
METHODOLOGY
In an attempt to achieve the major objective of the paper and based on the fact that, it is purely
on the desk type of research, a theoretical paper. The paper relied heavily on secondary sources
of data, thereby inferences were drawn from available relevant literature as related to the
dimension of the paper. Therefore, the paper is subsumed into eight sections. Section one unveil
the introduction of the paper, section two covers literature review/theoretical underpinning.
The third section brings to bare methodology used in the course of the paper. The fourth section
focuses on results and findings of the study while the fifth section centers on discussion. The
sixth section is based on implication to research and practice. The seventh section draws out
conclusion while the eight section ushered future research for the study
RESULTS AND FINDINGS

From the foregoing analysis, it is evident that Nigeria is endowed with youthful population that
is critical for unleashing the creative energies that would sustain national development.
However, the youth has been on the margin of national development, owing to worsening
unemployment and poverty. To jumpstart Nigeria’s sluggish economy, the innate potentials of
her youth must be activated, harnessed and utilized. In this wise, the paper suggests the
following:
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 There is need for increased and sustained investment on human capital development in
Nigeria, by way of increased provision and funding of free qualitative education, health
care delivery, and public housing.
 The Nigerian government should initiate and partner with the private sector to develop a
functional microcredit scheme for the poor, especially the unemployed youths. The
microcredit movement has shown clearly that lack of access to capital through restrictive
institutional practices is a major obstacle to giving the poor greater capacity to improve
their own standard of living (Curtain, 2001:6). Such a microcredit scheme should be
robustly organized to enhance transparency and accountability in its management and
flexibly structured to avoid unnecessary institutional bottlenecks and measures that
prevent youths from accessing such credit facility.
 In an era of globalisation characterized by rapid economic growth without job creation,
financial crisis, and market or policy failures, there is the urgent need for the Nigerian state
to introduce a robust social security scheme to take care of unemployed youths, enhance
livelihood security, and ensure the redistribution of income as well as risks.
 Poverty to a large extent is a function of the absence of shortage of opportunities for
earnings, and productive and purposeful jobs are the only sustainable and proper way to
alleviate poverty. To this end, it is imperative that the Federal Government provides
adequate incentives to private sector enterprises that are labour-intensive which could
contribute to more job creation and the alleviation of youth unemployment.
DISCUSSION
The essence and paramount objectives of governance is to ensure smooth running of
administrative apparatuses of the state (Nation). Ensuring adequate provision of needs of the
citizenry and security of their lives and properties. Therefore, the underlying discussion of the
subject matter of this paper is that government at all levels should partner with international
development agencies to establish vocational education and entrepreneurial skill acquisition
centres, both in the urban and rural areas. Despite successfully completing higher education,
there still many young people who lack basic skills needed to support their post-school life or
who are now being regarded as ‘unemployable’. For them to be employable or fit into the job
market in Nigeria, they need additional skills. One way of achieving this goal is for the
government to create partnerships and networks with privileged individuals, religious groups
and private organisations to establish vocational training centres throughout the country to
absorb many drop-outs and school leavers idling away in urban and rural areas. This should be
accompanied with the comprehensive overhaul of educational curriculum to ensure that
vocational training and entrepreneurial skills are incorporated into the programmes of
educational institutions to make graduates capable of running cottage industries, for instance.
This will promote employment generation for teeming youths and therefore contribute to
overall development in Nigeria.
IMPLICATION TO RESEARCH AND PRACTICE

Dwelling into this subject matter – “youth unemployment and poverty in Nigeria” is a wake-
up to the nation clarion call. The challenges are enormous, most especially as it affect one of
the critical segments of the nation –“youth”. The escalating and dynamic waves of social milieu
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Vol.1, No.2, pp.23-39, May 2015
in Nigeria almost on daily basis, wanton destruction of lives and properties are the resultant
effects of joblessness among teaming population of youth.
As buttressed in the forgoings of the paper, the six geo-political zone of the country (Nigeria)
is engulfed with ranging from escalating rate of kidnapping, crude oil pipe vandalisation,
communal classes ethnic militia engagement in intra-war over primordial sentiments over share
of the “national cake” – political positions and resource control at the centre, just to mentioned
a few. Findings of this nature based on explanatory research and many more of its kind is to
unravel the remote causes that often leads to societal imbroglio and how the youth are mostly
affected. Most often times, they (youth) are used as weapons by few elements (people that
control the corridor of power) to ignite crises for their selfish gains. Hence, study of its kind
avail casual factors and policy formulations. This becomes practical oriented, thereby
engendering peace, development in all its ramifications and nation’s sustainability.
CONCLUSION
The paper indicates that joblessness and poverty are both deep and sudden glut of contemporary
societal challenges such as leadership, security, governance etc, that constitute danger and
threat to social, economic and political development. From the evidence of various
development indicators shown in the paper such as unemployment rates by states, growth
profile of poverty, unemployment and other relevant variables, relative and absolute poverty
among others and the contribution of two sociological models to the subject matter, that is,
“Unemployment, Poverty and Youth in Nigeria”. The view of the paper as regard the
interactive effects of the concept – unemployment, poverty and youth in Nigeria is that, there
is a close nexus between poverty and unemployment with direct bearings on the critical
segments of the society, particularly the youth. Also, inspite of the myriad policies and
programmes initiated by successive Nigerian government such as NEEDS, SURE-P, NDE,
NYSC Schemes, as lofty and laudable as they seem, their inability to affect the real target
(youth), reflects the lacuna between policy formulation and implementation. Moreso, poverty
kept soaring high. The thrust of this paper therefore is its strong proposition to government at
all levels to demonstrate a commitment towards responsive governance, with focus on jobs
creation and eradication of poverty. In addition, appropriate authorities should endeavor to
sensitize the citizens on the need to embrace birth control measures for the purpose of
engendering sustainable development.
ADVANCEMENT FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

Though, the methodology employed for this research study is based on findings from reputable
journals, established database and a comparative analyses were carried out with an intensive
careful content analysis. The paper posits that more of the findings could still be discovered in
the course of further research, exploring findings in a quantitative pattern. The paper is of the
strong opinion as its major thrust, that a composition of both qualitative and quantitative –
triangulation mechanism of research, possibly could avail more robust analytical justification
for the study. Moreso, time factor is considered to be very crucial in this content.
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International Journal of Sociology and Anthropology Research

Vol.1, No.2, pp.23-39, May 2015

YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT AND POVERTY IN NIGERIA

ii. hunger and malnutrition

- involves a complex interactive relationship between individual and society and

Objective of the Paper

Youth Unemployment in Nigeria

Table 1: National Youth Unemployment Figures by Gender.

Year Percentage of unemployed Youth that are Female and Male

2008 58.50 41.50

2009 57.82 42.18

2010 54.52 45.48

2011 50.85 49.15

2012 55.42 44.58

Source: NISER, 2013

Table 2: Graduate Unemployment Rate 2003 – 2011 by Residence (Rural/Urban)

Year Rural Urban Total

2003 8.3 17.3 25.6

2004 12.8 25.2 38

2005 13.3 19.0 32.3

2006 13.4 18.8 32.2

2007 13.4 18.7 32.1

2008 21.7 15.8 27.5

2009 19.8 19.2 39

2010 20.7 22.8 43.5

2011 25.6 17.1 42.7

Sources: The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS, 2012)

Table 3: National Youth Unemployment Figures (15 – 34 years) by Education, 2008 –

Reasons for the Failure of Government Programmes as regard Poverty and

National Youth Policy – Review in Brief

Sociological Implications of Poverty and Unemployment in Nigeria

RESULTS AND FINDINGS

IMPLICATION TO RESEARCH AND PRACTICE

ADVANCEMENT FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

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