The growing youth unemployment in Nigeria is a time-bomb that could explode anything if urgent measures are not taken to nip it in the bud, the senate committee chairman on federal character, Senator Dahiru Awaisu Kuta has warned.
Senator Kuta said this at the home coming reception organized by the immediate past commissioner of the Federal Character Commission, Alhaji Isa Ibrahim Ladan, in New Bussa, Niger State.
He said, “There will be a serious revolution in the country if the trend of unemployment continues unabated. As the chairman of the Senate committee on federal character, I can tell you that the recent recruitment at INEC where about 300 vacancies were available, one million people applied and 400,000 applications were received for 74 slots in the Foreign Service. The future is therefore bleak.”
Senator Kuta extolled the virtue of Alhaji Ladan who he said facilitated job placement for over 200 indigenes of Niger state while in service. He,however, lamented the continued neglect of New Bussa and other communities in Borgu kingdom which plays host to Nigeria’s biggest hydro electric dam.
According to him, over 40 years after the dam was built, the communities have not been properly settled and compensated while their fishing occupation remains displaced.
Guest speaker at the occasion, Country Director of ActionAid, Dr Hussain Abdu noted that Nigeria was dangerously moving towards a youth dominated population, potentially explosive if jobs are not created for them.
He said 48 percent of Nigerians today are below age 50 and that unless the leadership provides the needed environment for their engagement, it could spell doom for the entire country.
Source: DailyTrust
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