Yemi Obafemi
Former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has described the alarming figure of over 80 million unemployed young Nigerians, as revealed in a recent ActionAid/Plan International report, as a damning indictment of Nigeria’s leadership and economic direction.
In a statement shared on his X handle Obi noted that Nigeria now tops the world in the absolute number of unemployed youths, largely due to its large population.
He wrote: “Nigeria tops the world in the absolute number of unemployed youths due to our large population, with over 80 million youths without jobs. South Africa with a youth unemployment rate of around 60%, translates to about 6 million unemployed youths, still more than 70 million fewer than Nigeria.
“When millions of youths are unemployed, it is not a youth problem, it is a leadership failure. This is the direct result of political greed that has failed to serve the people.
“Nigeria has one of the largest youth populations in the world, with about 75% of our citizens under the age of 35. With such a large share of the population young, joblessness at this scale should be a national emergency.
‘It is deeply troubling that, rather than investing in these youths as our most productive assets, promoting and supporting MSMEs the drive growth and create employment, we the Leaders chose wasteful spending, corruption, unproductive borrowing, and policies that will shrink opportunities and expand poverty, reducing Nigerian youths to easy tools for all forms of vices.”
Obi emphasized that Nigeria does not lack entrepreneurial or resourceful youths, but rather intentional leadership committed to creating opportunities.
“We need leadership that will see the youth as the engine of productivity and growth of a nation. This is the time, more than ever, for the Nigerian youths to get involved and ensure they elect leaders who have their best interest , ” he added.
