A lot of backlash has trailed the statement of President Muhammadu Buhari on the literacy of Nigerian youths and their readiness to work. While most of this backlash is based on emotional outbursts, a fair percentage is based on available facts and figures which prove contrary to the President’s claim.
While speaking during a panel appearance with world leaders at the Commonwealth Business Forum in London, the President had said:
“More than 60 per cent of the population is below 30, a lot of them haven’t been to school and they are claiming that Nigeria is an oil producing country, therefore, they should sit and do nothing, and get housing, healthcare, education free.”
Speaking in similar tone in February 2016, during an interview with the UK Telegraph, President Buhari said that there were a number of Nigerian youths in Prisons abroad, accused for engaging in illegal activities in the various countries they were being held, and smearing the image of the Country.
On the flip side, a survey on literacy increase among the youth demographic in Nigeria conducted by Knoema.com shows that from 2008 to 2015, literacy among Nigerian youths increased from 66.4% to 72.8% showing an increase of 6.4%.
According to the United States Embassy in Nigeria, Nigeria ranks number 1 in Africa and number 14 in the world for the Country with the most International Students in the United States. The statement read in part:
“Students from Nigeria study primarily at the undergraduate level: 50.8% undergraduate; 35.6% graduate; 11.5 % Optional Practical Training; and 2% non-degree programs or short-term studies. Interestingly, the top five institutions that have received the most Nigerian students are all located in the state of Texas: Houston Community College, the University of Houston, the University of North Texas, Texas Southern University, and the University of Texas at Arlington.”
These statistics show how seriously a lot of Nigerian youths take education and puts a question mark on the claim of the President.
Also, the only recorded demand for dividends from government based on the availability of oil is from the Niger Delta Militants who perpetuated some criminal activities, including kidnap of foreign workers and destruction of public utilities, and they were granted unconditional amnesty by the Yar’adua administration in 2009.
As at 2017, Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (NBRRI) released a statement that about 30 million Nigerian youths were unemployed in the Country and had no means of livelihood.
Meanwhile, in a survey carried out by Djembe Communications, 86% of Nigerian are pro-enterprise and this is seen in the amount of start-ups and Small and Medium Enterprises which are pioneered by young persons in the country.
Also, with the steady growth of technology in Africa, more and more start-ups are geared towards tech development, with youths focusing their attentions to building brands that provide solutions to certain necessities in the country.
One of such start-ups is Mobicure with its application Omomi which is a platform on which mothers can learn how to take care of their babies effectively. The application has been described to be the 1st app worldwide that covers all of the WHO childhood survival strategies.
Also, contrary to the President’s claim, the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, was in Lagos on April 17 to meet young innovators at Andela and the larger tech community in Yaba. The hub is driven by young innovators and entrepreneurs and is widely seen as a manifestation of their entrepreneur zeal. The Vice President also commended the efforts of the youth demographic in building a sphere of influence in tech for themselves.
While the achievements of some youths may not be a fair standard for generally saying the President was wrong as he did not say all Nigerian youths or even most Nigerian youths are lazy as is being reported by some, the President faces the problem of the absence of any data to make his argument with.
From records, Nigerian youths have been known to embrace job opportunities wherever they turned up and the times the Federal Government initiated empowerment opportunities, youths rushed to participate in them.
In 2017, the Federal Government initiated recruitment of 76,000 youths from 36 States of the Country National Directorate of Employment (NDE) job programmes and 2,000 youths per State turned out to participate in the job programme.
With the backlash from Mr. Buhari’s statement, the Federal Government may face questions as to how supportive it has been of Youths who are interested in creating jobs. Records show that out of 30 million unemployed youths, as indicated by NBRRI, only 76,000 opportunities where created for training and only 260 of those 76,000 were empowered with funds to establish their businesses.
While this may seem like a point for Mr. Buhari who says youths should not wait for government handouts instead of working hard, or at least doing something, the President may have to contend with army of youths he may have lost less than a year to the general elections, largely because of a genuine concern that he de-market the Nigerian youths abroad, but also because the opposition is having a field day drumming the issue and mostly because there is the idea among the youths that Mr. Buhari is shifting responsibility and referring to every youth. The latter being a product of sensational headlines in the media.
