Q2 write an article suitable for publication in a newspaper on unemployment in your country, highligting its effects and the way out. QUESTION TWO ANSWER Unemployment in Nigeria Unemployment is a hot issue in Nigeria, and many people are frustrated with widespread joblessness. According to official statistics, 24% of Nigerians are unemployed. These numbers are worse for young people. Official Nigerian statistics say 38% of those under 24 are unemployed, but the World Bank estimates this to be closer to 80%. In March 2014, 16 people were killed in stampedes when 500,000 desperate jobseekers rushed to apply for under 5,000 vacancies at the Nigeria Immigration Service. Students at tertiary educational institutions often graduate into joblessness and low morale. Many Nigerian graduates did not learn good skills during their studies. They were busy reading only text books without knowing the applications of what they read. This makes many companies to reject them when they apply for jobs. Graduates often must stay in their parents’ homes for a long time, with mounting frustration and pessimism. This negativity is one of the major root causes of crime among young people in Nigeria, as they turn to unscrupulous activities because there is nothing else to occupy their time or generate income. Each year, 200,000 students graduate from universities, but many fail to find a job and some will seek out less-than-honorable means of supporting themselves. Problems in Nigerias Educational System and Universities There is also a lot of corruption in the Nigerian educational system, particularly universities. Lecturers are known to collect money from students in exchange for good grades. Some say they have to bribe university administrators in order to have their exam results compiled and submitted to the (required) National Youth Service Corps. In August 2014, Nigeria’s own Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) reported that corruption was endemic to Nigerian universities, due to continual failure to make violators accountable for their actions. The Chairman of the ICPC’s University System Study Review, Professor Olu Aina, said there was a lack “political will” to deal with corruption violations, few internal checks in balances in universities to prevent corruption, and little external oversight of corrupt practices. Beyond political corruption, the Nigerian education system suffers in other ways. The Nigerian school system compares poorly not only to those of developed Western nations, but also to other African countries like Ghana and South Africa. In 1997 and 2000, statistics showed that federal government expenditure on education was below 10% of overall expenditure. The money appropriated to the education sector in the 2013 budget was ₦426.53 billion which amounts to only 8.67% of the total budget (₦4.92 trillion). The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recommends that the education sector accounts for 26% of national budgets in order to impact national development.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Sep 2014 09:13:05 +0000
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