One of the greatest challenges that have been facing Nigeria as a nation apart from the obvious crisis of insecurity is the consistent issues of unemployment. Millions of Nigerians are without jobs and it is becoming seriously alarming as it has resulted to majority of its youths turning to crime and dubious means for survival and making ends meet.
It is no longer a far fetched news that Nigeria is popularly referred to as the giants of Africa’s and also perceived to be the biggest economy in Africa. Despite these wonderful accolades Nigeria has been recently ranked third on a list of countries with the highest level of unemployment rate globally.
According to the revelations of media sources, the country’s unemployment rate hit a new record high at 33.3 per cent in fourth quarter (Q4) 2020 from 27.1 recorded in second quarter (Q2) 2020.
Furthermore, the Q4 unemployment database report released by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday 15 March 2021 an aggregate of 23.18 million individuals in Nigeria either did not do anything tangible or laboured for shorter than 20 hours a week, which rendered them unemployed during the fourth quarter (Q4) in 2020.
More so, NBS observed that the rate of underemployment decreased drastically from 28.6 per cent to 22.8 per cent, while a combination of both the unemployment and underemployment rate for the reference period gave a figure of 56.1 per cent.
In the view of StatiSense, a data technology company, Bosnia and Herzegovina with 33.7 per cent, finished top of the list of countries with highest unemployment rate globally. They are closely followed by Namibia with 33.4 per cent, Nigeria, 33.3 per cent, and South Africa with 32.5 per cent, while
Angola, Mozambique, Kosovo, Jordan, Lesotho, Palestine and Swaziland respectively. Below is a list which spells out the global unemployment ratio,
According to StatiSense(NBS)
1 Bosnia & Herz: 33.7%
2 Namibia: 33.4%
3 Nigeria: 33.3%
4 South Africa: 32.5%
5 Angola: 30.6%
6 Mozambique: 25%
7 Kosovo: 24.6%
8 Jordan: 23.9%
9 Lesotho: 23.5%
10 Palestine: 23.4%
11 Swaziland: 22.9%
Meanwhile, in Nigeria, according to the NBS Q4 statistical report, Imo state holds the record for the highest rate of unemployment within the country with 56.64 per cent, followed by Adamawa with 54.89 per cent and Cross Rivers state with 53.65 per cent. However, states with the lowest ratios include Osun, Benue and Zamfara states with 11.65 per cent, 11.98 per cent and 12.99 per cent
Gift Joseph Okpakorese
Staff Writer
