WRITTEN BY UCHE EZENWILE
The recent statement credited to the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki that Nigeria is sitting on a keg of gunpowder as a result of rising youths unemployment calls for serious concern; especially as Nigeria is preparing for the 2019 general elections.

Unemployment is a social problem that has continued to increase in Nigeria, and the solution to it appears to be out of the question. The situation became a serious issue from the early eighties when most local and foreign companies began to leave the shores of this country, ostensibly because of dwindling economy and unfriendly business environment. Paradoxically, the higher institutions in the country have continued to churn out graduates on yearly basis without corresponding jobs for them.
Unarguably, the population of Nigeria, according to the National Population Commission, has hit one hundred and ninety-eight million by mid 2018 and youths constitute about sixty per cent of this population. Unfortunately, more than thirty million youths are unemployed; and more disturbing is the fact that about twelve million Nigerian children, who will be youths tomorrow, are out of school with little or no attention from government.
The danger of this aberration is the use of these youths for nefarious activities, since an idle mind, they say, is a devil’s workshop. This odious trend should be reversed on the double, if the government wants to salvage the future of these youths. There is no doubt, however, that government cannot employ everybody, but it can create conducive environment for businesses to thrive in the country.
To start with, steady power supply is sine qua non to the growth of the manufacturing sector, which has the capacity to employ many youths. Unfortunately, this sector spent about two hundred and eight billion naira monthly to generate their private power. This is a lump sum that would have helped to expand their businesses, for more employment opportunities.
Government should therefore turn around the ugly situation in order to ensure the revitalization of the energy sector so as to forestall the incessant closure of manufacturing industries. There is no gain saying the fact that electricity is at the hub of every business the world over.
More significantly, government should understand the nexus between agriculture and industrialization. Undoubtedly, high agricultural yield erupts agricultural processing and industrialization. Agriculture in Nigeria is still at a subsistent level because of the non inclusion of the youths who have the driving spirit to take it to an industrialization point.
Therefore, government should make agriculture more attractive to the youths through mechanization, seminars, workshops and provision of agricultural infrastructural facilities. Furthermore, soft loans, through the Bank of Agriculture at a very low interest rate, should be given to the youths, so as to enable them embark on quality Agriculture.
In addition, youths should be encouraged to acquire skills which are different from the higher education certificates. To make it easier, education policy makers should redesign our educational curriculum to accommodate the acquisition of skills, as a compulsory option before the award of certificates. The need for skills acquisition cannot be over emphasized in this era of joblessness. More importantly, the skill acquisition centres built and donated by politicians should be tailored towards proper skill acquisition centres and not an instrument used to hood wink the masses.
The youths, as the leaders of tomorrow, constitute an important aspect of the population, and countries the world over do not joke with this group of people because of their potentials, on one hand, and their vulnerability on the other hand. Nigerian government should therefore incorporate this group of people into the scheme of things for faster growth and development of the country. Time to act is now.

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