WHEN there was oil boom and a somewhat stable economy, the issue of unemployment was a big problem. Now that Nigeria is experiencing economic crisis, one wonders what the hope of the teeming unemployed Nigerian youths will be.

Nigeria’s economy has been hurting on account of the drop in oil prices in the international market. All oil producing countries are feeling the impact of the historic fall in the price of crude oil.

Nigeria is not insulated from this problem, the consequences of the oil bust are already being felt by the people and all sectors of the country’s economy. Past government leaders are to blame; they failed to repair our refineries, diversify the economy and revive the manufacturing sector—all because of their personal gains, thereby putting the country and the Nigerian people at the mercy of an import dependent economy that blows nobody any good.

The immediate past administration painted a rosy picture of the economy when in actual fact the economy was undergoing recession and the country’s reserve was bleeding. It only took the emergence of the present administration to discover the truth about the state of the economy. However, some people still fail to admit that Nigeria’s economy is currently in distress. At present, most states owe a backlog of salaries, the reason President Muhammadu Buhari announced a bailout package for them and is converting their loans into bonds. This is expected to cushion the effect of the drop in federal allocation to them arising from the slump in oil prices.

This should be a great source of concern to every Nigerian leader, business owners, investors and the Nigerian people. Private sector companies are also finding it difficult to pay salaries as at when due because of the state of the economy. Unfortunately, however, most private sector companies are not raising the alarm. They are all giving the impression that all is well with them and their businesses.

In the face of this financial and economic crisis is a problem that the present administration and most state governors have to urgently address—and that is the problem of the teeming unemployed youths. The rate of unemployment has been increasing over the years. This is a time bomb waiting to explode if nothing drastic is done about the 65 per cent youth population in the land most of whom are unemployed. Some of them who are employed are earning wages that cannot help them live a decent life.

With these growing number of unemployed youths, Nigeria becomes more vulnerable as an idle mind is the devil’s workshop—some of these youths might take to crime and criminality, others will become a menace to the society, enlisting with terrorist organisations and also getting involved in shady deals and businesses to make ends meet. The problem of unemployed youths must be immediately addressed by the Buhari administration before things get out of control.

Nigeria has not taken advantage of this vibrant, young and productive group in order to grow the economy. Most of them have diverse skills and varying talents but there are limited opportunities and avenues for them to put their energy into good use for the benefit of the society. Studies have shown that unemployment has a negative impact on the gross domestic product (GDP) of the Nigerian economy; besides it results in a waste of manpower.

There is no denying the fact that past government’s inability to holistically and strategically address the issue of youth unemployment has continued to hamper our economic growth. Prolonged unemployment has a negative effect on the unemployed, their ability to be employed, their physical and mental wellbeing—and this ultimately contributes towards an increase in the level of poverty.

Therefore, the Buhari administration has to act swiftly towards solving the problem of unemployment. President Buhari’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, in an article entitled: ‘‘Buhari’s Job Search,’’ which was published in the Daily Trust on August 19, shows there is a glimmer of hope with his explanation of the president’s concern about unemployment and the potentials in the science and technology industry to create jobs. It reassures Nigerians that the Administration has jobs creation as one of its priorities. The President agrees that the Nigerian economy has over the years failed to create jobs for millions. Those who say that most Nigerian youths are unemployable are justifying their failure and inability to create jobs. Most of the unemployed youths are graduates and those who are not graduates have technical skills and abilities in different areas of endeavour. Being unemployable is a consequence of prolonged unemployment which is caused by government’s failure to create jobs.

The onus now lies on Buhari to ensure that his administration’s policies are formulated bearing in mind the necessity of job creation for the youths. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo recently stressed the need for policies that are rooted in people’s needs. Nigerians cannot wait to see the President’s actions and plans towards creating jobs translate into a fast drop in the number of unemployment. Efforts, programmes, policies and plans of past governments have not helped to reduce the rate of unemployment in our land. In the same vein, the level of poverty has not reduced in spite of the numerous poverty alleviation programmes across the country. It is evident that past administration’s recipe and prescriptions for solving the problem have not worked, hence, the need for new thinking and approach if the Buhari administration must address this problem.

Could it be that previous administrations did not have the knowledge or the means to create jobs for the teeming unemployed youths? But Nigeria boast of bright brains in all sphere of human endeavour who could work towards ensuring that the issue of prolonged unemployment is addressed and the growing rate of unemployment is kept in check. Ironically, we have had a mixed bag of politicians and technocrats, both at home and from the diaspora who have occupied one public office or the other. Yet we have not made much progress in solving the problem.

One can only conclude that this is due to insensitivity, lack of patriotism, corruption, dysfunctional leadership and bad decisions. Most public office holders only care about “fixing up” their “own people” with the available jobs while those who do not have link with public office holders can stay unemployed. They are often advised not to rely on government to provide them with the needed job rather, they should think of what they can do for themselves or probably follow the path of entrepreneurship in a country where small businesses are struggling to survive and big businesses are thriving on huge loans. Most banks are crying foul following the inability of their rich associates and partners to pay up their debts.

We cannot allow unemployment in the land to continue to increase year in year out without making jobs creation a major job of governments at all levels. It is going to be disastrous for a country that has been projected to have the third largest population in the world by 2050.

•Aregbeshola is author of ‘‘Nigerian Political Parties and Politicians: Winding Road from Country to Nation.’’