Re-Contextualizing Unemployment and National Security in Nigeria

Abstract

Unemployment is largely blamed for the intractable security challenges in Nigeria. More worrisome is that population growth adds 4.5 million youths into the labour market every year that largely begs for the public sector attention as presently conceptualized. Previous studies have focused on national job creation to manage employment challenges. This study argues on the contrary and sues for re-conceptualization of the concept of unemployment. The problem is that unemployment is major buzzword for assessing government in Nigeria. Unless re-conceptualized, unemployment will continue to pose serious challenges to national security. A number of strategies are highlighted to contain the challenges.Keywords: unemployment, national security, human resources, employment, entrepreneurship BackgroundThere is need to link unemployment to the matrix of national security in order to find explanatory framework for this study. Burgess (2008:60) posited that despite the fact that fears, anxiety, danger and doubt are fundamental social and individual experiences; the scholarly study of security has fundamentally been limited to the field of international studies, associated primarily with the status of nation-state in relation to each other. McNamara (1968:149) who posited that security is development and without development there can be no security further reinforces the nexus between unemployment and insecurity. This paper departs from the focus of earlier works on Nigeria that largely rest on traditional conception of national security such as Ekoko and Vogt (1990);Jonah (2008);Isa (2007) and Hutchful (2004). However, it is important to acknowledge that some works that tend to move away from traditional approach to the study of national security in Nigeria such as Nnoli (2006) Buzan (1991aBuzan ( , 1991bDalby (1997Dalby ( , 2000; Der Derian (1993); Dillon (1996); Huysmans (1998); Kaldor (2000); Lipschutz (1995); Rothchild (1995);Tickner (1995);Waever (1997Waever ( , 2000; Williams (1994) andWyn Jones (1999). These works show a general consensus among both scholars and practitioners that a wide range of security threats, both new and traditional, confronts states, individuals and societies. However, the stance of this present work is to show that the challenge to human insecurity in Nigeria emanates from the state of poverty, which is largely caused by overdependence on government institutions to provide employment. This study re-contextualizes, examines unemployment problem, interrogates nexus between unemployment and national security and highlights how to contain the challenges. Re-contextualizing UnemploymentWe can assume that before now joblessness was understood as a personal problem. The assumption is based on the fact that prior to exploitation of oil in commercial quantity in Oloibiri in 1956(Ogunlowo 2008, agriculture provided the engine of employment both formally and informally to every prospective individual who want to work in that sector in Nigeria. Staying without job in any sense was certainly reg...

Impact of Insurgency on the Psycho-Social Adjustment of Senior Secondary School Students in North-Eastern Nigeria

“…Employment yields an output and provides an income to the employed, and it gives the employed person the recognition of being engaged in some occupation worth his while and dignity. Unemployed persons are likely to gang up against constituted authorities with the ultimate aim to decent and insurgency (Iwu, 2015).…”