Crime has become more rampant
than ever in Nigeria. The heightened rate of crime in Nigeria in recent times
is worrisome and disturbing. This is evident in the daily news reports of
various crimes such as robbery, murder, terrorism, kidnapping, internet scam
and other social media crimes. In most cases, perpetrators of these crimes are
youths.
The problem of crime in Nigeria
has been exacerbated by the high rate of unemployment and economic hardship
which has pushed many jobless youths, some of whom are graduates, into various
deadly crimes.
The youth unemployment crisis is
not new, what is new is the staggering proportional increase it has reached in
recent times. The unemployment problem, which now seems beyond remedy, has
produced an army of idle hands and some of them have decided to punish the
society that fails to provide them with means of livelihood and dignity by
robbing its members of their property at gunpoint.
There is a nexus between
unemployment and crime. When people cannot earn an income from legal,
legitimate and social acceptable work/means; they turn to illegal activities.
These acts are carried out by no other persons than the youths who are
considered to be future leaders.
Unemployment is one of the major
challenges in Nigeria today. In spite of thousands of graduates produced every
year and an abundance of natural and human resources, the rate of unemployment
is increasing at an alarming rate, daily.
Youth unemployment is a global
problem affecting both developed and developing countries alike. But while the
developed countries are taking the threat seriously and restructuring their
education and social security systems to abate its growth and escape the
imminent catastrophe, Nigeria seem not to be doing enough.
Unemployment in Nigeria today has
become every youth’s nightmare. It is no longer about going to school and
graduating or learning a trade, but about how to face the reality of graduating
and joining the brigade of the unemployed with no hope of a better tomorrow.
Creativity and high energy are
the characteristics of young people in any nation and if the energy is
channelled positively, it will greatly benefit not only the economic prosperity
of nations but also enhance the moral values of the youth. When the same energy
is used negatively, it will lead to social unrest and economic instability.
It is quite disheartening that
young people with skills, certificates and energies have nothing to offer as a
result of mass unemployment, but dance to the tune of the politicians who in
turn used them to manipulate, rig and destabilized elections. In most
cases, after they have been used by
their politician, they are dumped or left to face their fate whenever the law
catches up with them. The few available jobs for the battalion of youth
job-seekers are politicized unless the job seeker is “connected”.
This sad reality offers an
explanation as to the reason most Nigerian youths are resorting to crime as an
alternative means of survival due to unemployment.
No nation can achieve growth or any form of stability that will enhance socio-economic development in an atmosphere of crime, and its antecedent chronic youth unemployment.
If factors that create the
feeling of deprivation and frustration created by youth unemployment in Nigeria
are addressed, crime would be reduced to the barest minimum.
We need a system that works, a
government that caters for its citizens, especially the youths, empowering them
to take up different vocations and be useful to themselves and the society at
large
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