Robert McNamara, a former United States Secretary of Defence, was once quoted as saying that, Any society that seeks to achieve adequate military security against the background of acute food shortages, population explosion, low level of productivity and per capita income, low technological development, inadequate and sufficient public utilities and chronic problem of unemployment, has a false sense of security. Unfortunately, Nigeria is still striving to overcome not one, two or three of all these challenges but all of them.These problems have been accumulating over the years with the inability of successive governments to tackle them head-on. Further worsening this situation is the frustrations of Nigerians aimed at political leaders who failed to make good on promises that they would improve the general standard of living. Such failures normally had one or more causes. In many cases, some of our leaders were incompetent, saw their own power base as threatened by needed changes, or simply were overwhelmed by the magnitude of their problems and their lack of resources. Because of its human cost in depravation and feelings of rejection and personal failure, the extent of unemployment is widely used as a measure of workers welfare. Compounding this is the problem of underemployment- that is, people are employed only part-time or at work that is inefficient or unproductive with a corresponding low income that is insufficient to meet their needs.The level of unemployment in the country has got to an unbelievable state. One major reason for this unemployment is that the growth of education has far outstripped the growth of the economy so that the supply of jobs cannot meet the demand for it. The result is that school-leavers and graduates drift to the towns in search of jobs. Few lucky ones are employed but the vast unemployed majority roam the streets and therefore have a higher tendency to resort to crime. This class constitutes a source of potential danger to the State. If revolutions come in Africa, commented a scholar a century ago, it is from this group that they will draw rank and file. Today, there have been uprisings led by youths in parts of Africa and the Middle East that have led either to the collapse or weakening of powerful autocratic regimes.Either way, from various researches conducted, it is apparent that the various challenges facing Nigerian youths in getting desirable jobs are numerous. There is a lot the government can do to abolish some job restrictions as a way of alleviating the sufferings, and anger of youths directed at Nigerian leaders for directly or indirectly putting them in their present predicament. Government jobs though low paying in most places offer job security and therefore seem more desirable in the midst of an unpredictable private sector and economic climate. The well-paying non-federal government jobs are few and are usually centred around the oil and gas sectors, consulates and some NGOs. Some of the other ones are peanut paying and exploitative similar to state government jobs.Complaints given by job seekers are endless. While most inconsistencies are deliberate others are circumstantial. First is the problem of advertisements. Many government offices nowadays dont advertise positions and even when they do (to make it official in line with the Federal Governments directive that all jobs must be advertised) it is apparent that selection has already taken place favouring even some of those that never applied for the job. The jobs may also only require a few dozen people in the midst of hundreds of thousands to over a million submitted applications. This means that those who arent well connected or from the highly privileged class are at the mercy of divine intervention. Age restrictions also affect vibrant applicants who could not get admission into tertiary institution on time or graduate when due because of inconsistencies in the countrys admission process and disruptions in the tertiary calendar as a result of strikes. Some of these individuals though old, remain unemployed. Most jobs now also place premium on experience. One wonders how a youth who has never been given the opportunity to work will get experience in the first place' Buying of application forms is surprising. Organisations now just use it to make money off desperate job seekers. Why should a youth who doesnt earn a salary purchase an application form especially from a government institution' Does government not make budgetary provisions for these institutions to cover such cost'The countrys Federal Quota system also raises some questions. Employment should be based on merit. Though provisions are necessary to make sure all regions are represented in the affairs of state, there should be limitations so as not to encourage academic laxity and unproductivity among those who feel protected by quota and discourage those who have worked hard academically just to find themselves short-changed by a far less qualified individual in the name of quota. As expected, this has led many Nigerians to purchase indigenisation forms from other states that struggle to meet their quota. Closely related to this are cases of people being favoured based on their tribe or religion, depending on the ethnic or religious affiliation of those with considerable influence on the organisation.There is also too much emphasis on class of degree (be it 1st,2nd,or 3rd class). While academic excellence should be encouraged, our public school system is such that the methods of measurement used in awarding class of degrees are so inconsistent with international standards. People of all classes of degrees should be allowed to sit for interviews and prove if what they earned from the university was deserved, circumstantial or just criminal. Other challenges affecting youths seeking jobs include that of overcrowded and unorganised interview and test venues; online applications hindered by poor website and server management (apart from the fact that people are hardly recruited through online submissions); lack of official information concerning the outcome of applications or written tests and interviews, slots being created or hoarded for the privileged and so on. All this of course is apart from the thousands of slots being occupied by ghost workers. It is also surprising when People say that graduates should venture into business but yet refuse to support these graduates with sufficient starting capital. Even facebook, and Microsoft founders started with capital.The under-employed themselves are not in any way immune to employment challenges. Apart from the challenge they face in getting an ideal job or position, they find it hard to get their position upgraded to be commensurate with their qualifications, and get little or no support or approval for furthering their education. We also have largely archaic public workforce that seems threatened by new, technological, or fresh ideas or by the influx of younger, more vibrant and educated applicants. How many senior staff in the public service for example can operate the internet to enhance speed and efficiency' Thus the effects of job restrictions are immeasurable; it has led to the falsification of degrees, falsification of age, submitting of lower qualification in order to endure a demeaning position, falsification of years and place of experience, suspicion, frustration, feeling of lack of worth or recognition or appreciation, Inferiority-complex, desire to steal, cheat, lack of patriotism and so on. The chronic unemployment problem is a time bomb waiting to explode if right and drastic measures are not taken urgently.These measures can only succeed if the President appoints people that are competent, and immune from political godfathers as well as from ethnic and religious favouritism. After all, the problem of Nigeria has always been that of having the wrong people in the right places and the right people in the wrong places!Audu, an Abuja-based defence analyst, wrote in from 10, Albarka Road, Old Karu, Abuja, via budu2010@yahoo.com 08051323658
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