The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Celebration, Peter Obi has condemned Nigeria’s worsening youth unemployment as a stark failure of management, referencing a current ActionAid/Plan Worldwide report that estimates over 80 million younger Nigerians are at the moment jobless.
In an announcement on Tuesday, Obi famous that Nigeria now has the best absolute variety of unemployed youths on the planet, a scenario he attributes to poor {economic} administration amid the nation’s massive inhabitants.
He contrasted this with South Africa, the place youth unemployment is round 60 per cent—equal to roughly six million younger individuals, nonetheless over 70 million fewer than in Nigeria.
Obi careworn that youth unemployment shouldn’t be merely an issue for younger individuals however a management failure, pushed by political greed and a long time of misplaced priorities.
With roughly 75 per cent of Nigerians beneath the age of 35, he described the disaster as a nationwide emergency.
Fairly than investing in youths as productive belongings or supporting micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) to drive progress and job creation, Obi lamented that successive governments have pursued wasteful spending, corruption, unproductive borrowing, and insurance policies that exacerbate poverty.
“Nigeria doesn’t lack entrepreneurial and resourceful youths. What we lack are leaders who’re intentional about creating alternatives by deliberate investments in production and prudent, clear, people-centred governance,” he mentioned.
Obi emphasised that significant job creation requires purposeful management that recognises youths because the engine of nationwide productiveness and progress.
He urged younger Nigerians to actively take part in politics to elect leaders who genuinely symbolize their pursuits and the nation’s future.
“Nigeria deserves competent, credible, compassionate, and succesful management, one that may create alternatives and empower our younger individuals,” Obi concluded.