Unlocking the Potential of the Youth for Economic Development

Theoretically, the youths of every nation ought to be the major engine for economic

development and advancement but in reality, the subject of advancing youth

empowerment and involvement in socio-economic and political affairs remains a

major issue in Nigeria. Discovering the Perspectives of the Youth on Economic

Evolution is the solution to this problem. This essay will rely on the fact that through

the personal mobilization of the youths and the active response of the government in

providing their essential duties, the potential of every youth will be discovered and

utilized for economic development in Nigeria.

The concept of ‘Youth’ is defined within the framework of different sociological

perspectives, which could also depend on cultural contexts. In some African cultures,

‘’... one would remain a youth until one is married and/or has a paid job to meet the

personal and extended family responsibilities, or can move out of the family

house…’’ (YIAGA Africa, 2019b). However, in terms of a more formal institutional

definition, for regional and national policy-making, age-based definitions have been

considered, for the statistical declaration of the demography and, the age grades

may vary from different nations across the globe. The Economic Community of West

African States (ECOWAS), defines youth as between the ages of 15 and 35 as

likewise recognized in The African Youth Charter. In Nigeria, according to the

National Bureau of Statistics and the National Youth Policy of 2019, the age

descriptions for Nigerian youths range from 18-35 years (Bamidele, 2021).

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The World Youth Report (2020) estimates that young people between 15 and 21

years of age number up to 1.21 billion and that the youth cohort population will reach

1.29 billion (15.1 percent of the world's total) by 2030 (United Nations, 2019c). In the

2006 census conducted in Nigeria, the youthful population constituted over 70

percent of the entire general population, and in the 2019 general elections, it was

estimated that 51.11 percent of the registered voters were youths, and this number

was more than half of the total voter turnout which stood at roughly 28.6 million with

the actual youth voting bloc at about 66 percent (Adejoro, n.d.). It is a fact that the

youths constitute the largest and most productive component of Nigeria’s population.

The economic development of Nigeria, therefore, has a direct relationship with the

level of youth development and integration in the nation’s economy.

The Nigerian youths have made some monumental contributions to add to the past

and present glory of the Nigerian economy. For instance, the agricultural sector

which is the largest sector of the Nigerian economy incorporates the labor force of

the country by offering about 90 percent of employment. In 2020, the North West had

the highest percentage of youth engaged in crop farming (32.4 percent). In livestock

farming, the North East (44.7 percent) had the highest percentage of youths in the

country. In poultry farming, the North Central had the highest (32 percent) of youths

involved in the activity. Fishing activity by youths is more in the South West (53.5

percent) than in other zones. Forestry activity by youths is also more in the South

West (92.6 percent) than in other zones across the country (National Youth Survey,

2020).

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In the tertiary sector, Particularly in the area of trade, the National Youth Survey 2020

recorded that over 65.4 percent of female youths operated business enterprises

more than their male counterparts and that naturally, 90.8 percent of youths were in

a sole proprietorship, 1.5 percent were in partnership, 0.3 percent were in private

liability and 7.4 percent were into other businesses. A good number of youths in

Nigeria are involved in the progressive output of the economy but a large number of

youths in Nigeria are severely hampered by several obstacles making it difficult for

them to display their full potential for economic development, and the reason for this

centers on either one of the following factors which are lack of personal mobility of

the youths and government role in policy-making, providing essential needs of the

people and management of economic programs, schemes, and projects.

Generally, the personal mobility of the youth refers to an instinctive drive that

motivates the youths to engage in creative and beneficial projects for themselves.

This could be in education, sports, business, entertainment, or any opportunity

spontaneous enough to suit their legitimate ambition. This means without the

instinctive desire that drives ambitious youths to do legitimate things and gain

economic advantages, the youths will remain unproductive and the idea that the

youths are the key actors in economic development will be of irrelevance. However,

many youths refuse to see themselves as productive engines or refuse to make

themselves available to be productive and that is why they later engage in discordant

and mischievous acts of thuggery, fraud, cultism, sexual immorality, drugs, human

trafficking, theft, crime, and other social vices thereby making themselves a problem

to our society rather than being a solution for expansive development in our

economy.

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Ideally speaking, it is a lack of personal mobilization that makes the youth idle and

lazy toward life-changing opportunities. But the stereotype often associated with a

popular tag made on the Nigerian youths by our political leaders and other groups of

people is that ‘’All youths are lazy’’. This is a popular perception in the minds of

people who see the Nigerian youths as nothing but a waste of capital investment and

opportunities. This perception is also associated with the fact that most youths are

idle and are more interested in other unproductive aspects like social media,

entertainment, luxurious lifestyles, and so on. But in truth, many Nigerian youths are

not lazy; many of them are personally mobilized but without any platform to learn,

contribute or add their skills, or even benefit from what they have truly earned.

The second factor hindering the potential of youths for economic development is the

role of government, its policies, duties to the youths, and management of projects.

Unemployment in Nigeria amongst the youths remains a cankerworm that has eaten

deep into the fabric of the nation. The National Bureau of Statistics recorded that in

2016, 38 percent of the population that falls within the employable age are 65

percent of Nigerian youths faced with unemployment. In Akwa Ibom State, recent

statistics put the unemployment figure of the state at 37.7 percent in the third quarter

of 2018, and the underemployment rate at 20.1 percent which is the highest

throughout the country (National Bureau of Statistics, 2018). According to

Anthony(2013), chronic youth unemployment is evident in Nigeria as every year,

thousands of graduates are produced but there are little or no job opportunities for

them because of structural rigidities, corruption, financial debt, and a lack of

manpower planning.

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The educational sector is another area that offers a serious challenge to the

economic potential of youths in Nigeria. Because of the poor educational system

especially at the tertiary institution, youths of Nigeria are not benefiting from the

supposed training they are meant to acquire from the school environment, nor are

they acquiring valuable skills profitable for economic growth and development in the

country. According to the National Youth Survey Report (2020), 62.6 percent and

37.4 percent of female and male youths in Nigeria have ‘’Never been to school’’.

Further statistics show that exactly 67.9 percent of educated youths had their

highest level of education at the secondary level, and 16.8 percent of the youths had

tertiary educational qualification as their highest level of education. The youths of

Nigeria have also suffered to enjoy the highest attainable standard of health care

services and security in the country and this either leads to their death or habitation

of deadly diseases in their body because of improper treatment, thereby rendering

them economically unproductive. The security of Nigerian youths is also another

pressing issue as the recent cases of youth abduction, kidnap, sexual abuse, and

deaths have all come to show that the youths of Nigeria are not safe in many areas

where they find themselves.

Harsh government policies and lack of proper management of economic projects

and plans to empower youths with opportunities have also denied the youths of

Nigeria any productive use to our economy. The government of today has been held

responsible for the high forms of marginalization of the human rights of the youths

and impeded access to justice, because of the harsh policies implemented that

prevent the youths from any economical advantage in areas of equal employment

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and education of female youths, health response policies, security ensured policies.

The government is also guilty of improper management of economic projects,

schemes, and employment opportunities. The fact about this observation is not that

the government agencies do not create or make efforts to empower youths, but that

upon the establishment of these institutions the main objectives of establishing these

platforms do not last long. For example, The Open Apprenticeship Programme

(OAP), National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP), Youth Empowerment

Scheme (YES) and many other programs have failed to maintain their objectives

(Bashir, John, Ambaga, 2017).

The challenges facing the youths in unlocking their potential for economic growth

may look difficult to overcome, but there are prudent recommendations the youths

and the government must take cognizance of because they are of great importance.

In the area of personal mobilization, in the new global economy, it is essential that

young people need to acquire more than just basic education and paper

qualifications from tertiary and other higher institutions for professional work and

specialization, particularly for white-collar jobs or to indefinitely wait on the

government to provide opportunities for them to engage in, but they should look into

skill acquisition that will prepare them for the evolving labor market as skills are the

bedrock on which a stronger more prosperous and sustainable Nigeria will be built

and skilled young people are the lifeblood of our country, our economy, and our

society. There are also lots of important areas young people should mobilize

themselves into to gain knowledge and financial freedom.

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In agriculture, there is a need for more youths to be mobilized in agricultural

practices, diversifying its sectors and specializing in various areas. This is because

agriculture remains the largest sector of the Nigerian economy and the youths as the

labor force and future of economic development have the power to restore the glory

and advantages of the agricultural sector to what it ought to be. In Nigeria, more than

37 percent of youths are engaged in agriculture. Youth agricultural firms and

businesses contributed a total of N6.4 trillion in 2012, out of this crop farming activity

contributed the sum of N4.7 trillion, livestock N2 trillion, poultry contributed N20

billion, fishery N20 billion, and forestry N1 billion (National Baseline Youth Survey,

2012), Therefore more agricultural activities from the youths must be encouraged,

because from the agricultural sector a lot of entrepreneurial business opportunities

are open to empowering the youths, like in livestock farming, fish farming, food crop

sales, flower business.

Entrepreneurial businesses and skills like marketing, baking, tailoring, bead making,

cooking services, and graphic design should also be ventured into by the youths as it

will help to provide financial freedom. Sports should be another avenue the youths

should take an active part in to provide engagement and employment. Sports bring

about investment in infrastructure, transport, tourism, international partnership, crime

reduction, and nation-building. The entertainment and recreation sector is also

available for youths to showcase their industrial talents in music, comedy, fashion,

arts, acting, and cinematography. In this industry, the youths can be easily aided with

crude implements as affordable as a smartphone device to start up any

entertainment business of their choice and showcase it on social media platforms.

Experience and knowledge in ICT and other tech-related trends should also be

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pursued by the youths by engaging in IT sessions on programs concerning digital

trading like Forex.

Formal education should not be taken for granted as education is the fundamental

pillar without which we cannot have entrepreneurship for inclusive growth. Therefore

the youths should mobilize themselves deliberately to gain quality education to

acquire good grades and competent certificates that will produce a new generation

of professionals, leaders, and specialists who will thrive and advance the futuristic

plan of development in our economy. Online educational platforms and internship

programs are also available for youths to gain knowledge from as they mostly

provide educational courses from developed parts of the world and insights on

advanced technical lessons. Abstinence from youthful exuberance is very key to

preserving the dignity of our youths and they must be aware of the fact that they

should show the younger generation attributes of a responsible lifestyle and as such

entertaining such acts of violence, sexual immorality, ambitious luxurious lifestyles

lack of self-control and personal effectiveness, laziness and idleness should not be

encouraged in any manner.

On the role of the government, Professor Patrick Utomi opined ‘’that the government

needs to invest more in the youths’’ (Ikhide, 2017). Therefore, the government

should create more employment opportunities for the youths in Nigeria by providing

vocational training and entrepreneurial development which includes public facilities

to curb unemployment both at the Federal and State level, the government must

engage the youth in production to help facilitate the export of goods and services out

of the country by providing more small-scale farmers with mechanized equipment,

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facilities for sports and other recreational events. For instance, in Akwa Ibom, the

State government has provided 3 standard recognizable stadiums such as the

Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, the Eket Sports Stadium, and the Uyo

Township Stadium. The various ministries in charge of youth empowerment must

give more cognizance to capital development over recent expenses, the rate of

crime needs to be checked, and concentration in the oil and gas sector as a means

of foreign earnings should not be encouraged.

In the area of Health, governments at all levels should value the health status and

security of the youths and should not hesitate to save the highest populated class of

the country from deadly diseases. Government can achieve this by emphasizing

strategies for strengthening the curative primary health care services and facilities in

the country. This initiative will involve a comprehensive health sector reform, aimed

largely at strengthening the national health system and embracing the delivery of

effective healthcare services. For instance in Akwa Ibom, the 2007 State government

administration implemented the renovation and rehabilitation of 22 health institutions

in the state in line with the government policy of improving the comprehensive health

care delivery system in the state (Akpan, 2007). Government must also develop a

well-coated strategic plan for combating malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS virus, and

other sexually transmitted diseases by implementing strategies and programs to

increase youthful knowledge and awareness of their obligations and rights for better

health.

On security, the government should mobilize all military arms and other security

agencies to be on alert to apprehend any criminal offenders caught or found guilty in

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any action of rape, banditry, kidnap, fraud, theft, drugs, and other social vices and

such offenders should be made to face the wrath of the law. In education, the

government must ensure that at least 60 percent of all tertiary institutions have

conducive learning environments and establish an efficient institutional framework for

monitoring, the learning and teaching processes at all levels government must also

adhere to the University Autonomy Act, diversify funding by attracting private sector

funding and considering more appropriate pricing of facilities and services, and

update and restructure curricula to meet the demands of the national economy,

mainstream science, and technology especially Information Communication and

Technology (ICT). In Akwa Ibom, the State government, in 2008 took delivery of

more than N3 billion worth of equipment for the Akwa Ibom State Science and

Technology park to function maximally in the state with the government further

committing that their administration intended to ensure that every Akwa Ibom Child

was a Computer Literate (Akpan, 2008).

Government policies should aim at implementing the secured and protected rights,

interests, and empowerment opportunities for all the youths irrespective of their

backgrounds, race, tribe, or gender. Government should abstain from establishing

harsh and gruesome policies that will challenge the productivity of the youths and

hinder their prospects of contributing to economic development, and as such

government policies must reflect on issues of female participation in the economic

sector, educational reforms, employment opportunities both at the public and the

private sector, youth encouragement in integration and nation building, abrogation on

any forms of traditional practices encouraging discrimination, insecurity and early

marriage of female youths especially in the Northern parts, equitable economic

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reforms across all sectors of the Nigerian economy. Government should also

properly manage projects and plans set up for economic growth and development

and ensure that these strategies are implemented and seen as a source of

empowerment for long periods. The act of responsibility, commitment, and passion to

start up these institutions must be maintained, and at no point should the core

objectives of the institutions be questioned on the grounds of corruption, and

improper management. This will be achieved if a standard bureaucratic system is

adopted in these institutions to avoid an unstructured system.

Conclusively, Personal mobilization and the role of government to provide the basic

needs of the youths go hand in hand and one cannot do without the other. This is

because, if the government should provide all the opportunities needed for youth

empowerment and employment but the youths themselves are not personally

mobilized or refuse to be mobilized to take advantage of the opportunities, the efforts

of the government will be rendered infertile and vice versa. Nigerian youths have not

been fully mobilized and empowered with enough opportunities to advance

economic development and this problem will persist unless the recommendations for

unlocking the potential of the youths are adhered to.

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