By Abba Hamisu Sani
Africa-Press – Nigeria. From all indications Nigerian public and organized private sectors can not provide enough employment opportunities to Nigerian unemployed as the available data shows that these two sectors can only generated 12 percent of jobs needed by millions of Nigerians
Recent report by the Nigerian Bureau of statistics -NBS shows that 88 percent of the Nigerian workforce are self-employed.
Going by the NBS reports ,it means that self employment remains the major resort for Nigerians searching for what to do.
Universities and other tertiary institutions graduates who are now waiting for employment in either public or private sector have to understand that such sectors can no longer be reliable interns of employment generation.
This report by the highest statistics body should serve as an eye opener to Nigerian youths particularly those neglecting their crafts and skills because they attend Universities
Nigerian Bureau of Statistics Report
According to the NBS recent report, Only 12 percent of workers in Nigeria were in wage employment as of the end of the second quarter of 2023.
This is because 88 per cent of workers in the country are self-employed. This was contained in a report titled, ‘Nigeria Labour Force Statistics Report second of the quota 2023 which was released on Thursday 20th December 2023 by the NBS.
Total unemployment in the period stood at 4.2 percent as of Q2, 2023. The statistics body defined unemployment rate as the share of the labor force (the combination of unemployed and employed people) who are not employed but who are actively searching and are available for work.
“The unemployment rate for Q2 2023 was 4.2 per cent, this is a marginal increase from 4.1 per cent recorded in Q1 2023. Unemployment rate by sex among men was 3.5 per cent and among women was 5.9 per cent in Q2 2023. Disaggregation by location, the unemployment rate was 5.9 per cent in urban areas and 2.5 per cent in rural areas.” NBS said
Unemployment among Young Nigerians
Focusing on young people, the unemployment rate for 15-24-year-olds was 7.2 per cent in Q2 2023, the NBS highlighted.
The Bureau said it enhanced its methodology of collecting labor market data through the Nigeria Labour Force Survey in line with International Labour Organisation guidelines and the unemployment rate revealed that most Nigerians operate their own businesses or engage in farming activities.
The national statistics body noted that employment comprises two broad categories; employees and the self-employed. It explained that people working for pay in the form of salaries and wages in cash or in-kind, including paid apprentices, are referred to as employees while own-account workers, contributing family workers, and employers are referred to as self-employed.
Commenting on this category, it said, In Q2 2023, 88.0 per cent of employed Nigerians were primarily self-employed with the remaining 12.0 per cent being primarily engaged as employees.
Unemployment by sex and location
“Disaggregation by sex, 85.2 percent of employed men were self-employed compared to 91.0 per cent of employed women. Disaggregation by location, 80.5 percent of employed people in urban areas were self-employed compared with 95.3 per cent of employed people in rural areas.”
It added that the proportion of workers in Wage Employment in Q2 2023 was 12 per cent.
Informal employment in Nigeria is currently pegged at 92.7 per cent.
But organized labor and other experts have faulted the newly released labor data pegging the unemployment rate at 4.2 per cent, saying the figure does not conform with current realities.
Stating that the unemployment rate by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) does not make sense anymore, they argued that it is not useful for planning purposes.
Nigeria Labour Congress reactions
Reacting to the statistics, Assistant General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Chris Onyeka, said rather than building on false data, NBS should embrace the reality of the unemployment rate in Nigeria, which put the rate at 33.3 percent before embarking on the new methodology.
He said as the labor center is concerned, unemployment has grown exponentially in Nigeria beyond the NBS’ 4.1 per cent.
He added that independent research has shown that youth unemployment is over 60 percent while general unemployment is over 35 per cent.
Mentioning many multinational companies that have divested lately, he said that had automatically widened the unemployment rate, even as jobs have not been created.
“That is the reality. The rate is so bad that it is easy to recruit people into criminality. Government must address the macroeconomic challenges,” he said.
Another expert disputed the NBS statistic
Bango Adi is a professor of economics at the Lagos Business School (LBS).He said the NBS position suggests that the unemployment rate is less than the natural rate of unemployment, which is considered normal for the economy.
Explaining what the five per cent natural rate of unemployment is, the don said: People leave one job and there is an interval of time within which they are searching for a new job, so before they get a new placement, they remain temporarily unemployed, which is a very short one.
“During this period, it is structural unemployment, which is a technological shift, which means there would be new jobs but you wouldn’t have the matching skills until training meets such new skills.
Within that period again, you are bound to have some layer of unemployment. So, if you put those frictions of unemployment together, that is what makes up the five per cent called Natural Rate of Unemployment.
So, the NBS is telling us that unemployment is even below the natural rate. That is to make nonsense of the field; it is completely nonsensical.” The economic analyst
stated
However the Nigerian Bureau of statistics report which is disputed by both Nigerian Labour Congress(NLC) , Trade Union((TUC) and also by some economic experts is an indication that the unemployment rate in Nigeria is very high so there is urgent need for the present administration under Bola Tinubu to intensify efforts toward creating more job opportunities and provide enabling environment for private sectors ,so that more employment will be created.
Also interns self-employment which presently provides 88 percent of job opportunities according to the NBS ,there is need for government to create more windows that will encourage such businesses for them to grow and be sustained
On the disparity between rural and Urban areas in job opportunities ,there is a need for rural dwellers to maintain traditional skills abandoned due to the white collar jobs ,local authorities should be encouraged to set up agencies that will promote traditional business and crafts.
At this point financial autonomy for local governments is very crucial ,the state government should understand that holding local governments funds is a critical factor that creates unemployment at the grass root levels.
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