The Faces of Unemployment
In Nigeria, the topic of unemployment is all too common. The unemployment rate continues to rise year after year. It has become so common that it appears that the affected (the graduates) are gradually accepting their fate, while policymakers appear to be unaware of the true challenge. Unemployment rates are increasing in a geometric progression; according to the NBS, the unemployment rate rose to 33.3 % in the fourth quarter of 2020, up from 27.1 % in the second quarter of the same year.
The rising unemployment rate in Nigeria has many faces; the face of unemployment varies depending on who is looking at it. The graduate sees it in a different light than the employer.
The graduates see infrastructural decay as the cause of unemployment
Without a doubt, the number of graduates produced by higher education institutions outnumbers the level of economic and infrastructure growth. Aside from the Nigerian economy’s slow growth rate; it lacks the structural and transformation capacity needed to expand employment in the country’s long-bloated labour market. In other words, whatever growth occurs in Nigeria is not labour intensive, and thus cannot generate a proportionate proportion of jobs for unemployed graduates.
Employers see a skill deficit graduate
It has been stated that the curricula and pedagogical arrangements in Nigeria higher education are obsolete, therefore cannot meet the challenges of today’s workplace. Hence employers insinuate that the number of graduates turned out is not employable due to the falling and compromised standard of education.
Entrepreneurship was developed to teach undergraduates how to plan, operate, and assume the risk of a business; it focuses on innovation, creativity, risk-taking, and so on. Entrepreneurship education was implemented to educate; and encourage graduates to start their own businesses rather than relying on the government to create jobs. Although the concept is admirable, route learning and impractical theories have rendered the course largely ineffective. The lack of proper and efficient entrepreneurship education has reinforced the mindset that every educated person must secure a paid job in the private or public sector.
True, there aren’t enough paid job opportunities in Nigeria to accommodate all of the unemployed graduates. Employers, on the other hand, argue that the situation would be more salvageable if graduates possessed the necessary workplace skills. Therefore, employers are less likely to hire graduates because of a lack of employability skills. This is due to the fact that they must train; and retrain employees in order for them to meet the needs of the organization. The enormous resources used in training programs have a significant impact on their profit margin.
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