Aggravation of Youths Unemployment in Nigeria: A Scenario by Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Over the years, youths unemployment in Nigeria has been an issue of serious concern as it
continues to increase from annually. However, with the emergence of Covid-19 pandemic that
started in Wuhan, China and spread to many nations of the globe, ravaging economies and
claiming lives including Nigeria, the adverse effect of the pandemic is more pronounced on youths
employment. In view of the foregoing, this paper analyzed the effect of unemployment before the
pandemic and during the pandemic especially as it affect the youths. The study adopted an
exploratory research design and obtain secondary data for its analysis. For the purpose of this
research, data from National Bureau of Statistics and other sources were accessed. It was
revealed that as a result of the pandemic, employers of youth labour are either downsizing by
laying workers off or outrightly closing down. NBS data revealed that unemployment in Nigeria in
the second quarter of 2020 has risen to 27.1% which is a far cry from what it used to be. This is
likely to further worsen the cases of crime such as kidnapping, robbery, insurgency, banditry in the
country. The paper recommended that government and financial institutions should endeavour to
assist businesses and employers of labour with low interest loans; youths should be trained in
vocational studies and assisted with start-up capital; educational institutions should be
restructured to teach new skills required for the post-pandemic era and government of Nigeria
should embark on massive investment in the critical sectors such as power, agriculture,
manufacturing and transport to drive massive employment generation for the youths.