INVESTIGATION OF THE RELEVANCE OF NATIONAL YOUTH SERVICE CORPS SKILL ACQUISITION PROGRAMME AND UNEMPLOYMENT REDUCTION
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
Graduates of Nigerian educational institutions face a significant challenge as a result of the global economic downturn and recessions. In Nigeria, the reported youth unemployment rate has risen from 41% in 2009 to more than 50% in 2012-2013, rising at a rate of 16% per year (Salami, 2013). Though data sources vary significantly depending on the technically unemployed population, Nigeria’s large population size acts as a significant multiplier, resulting in between 5 and 20 million unemployed youths in Nigeria today.
Unemployment in Nigeria, as in other developing countries around the world, has been one of the country’s most perilous social and economic issues. In Nigeria, it is extremely rare to find a household where no one is unemployed.
or will be laid off. The impact of unemployment on social and political stability cannot be avoided. Unemployment contributes to societal issues such as armed robbery, prostitution, poverty, kidnapping for ransom, bunkering, and other social vices. According to Lemo (2013), entrepreneurship remains a viable option for creating jobs, reducing unemployment, and empowering adolescents to start their own businesses, pursue their dreams, and contribute to total productive capacity as well as national economic growth and development.
Graduates from Nigerian educational institutions who have completed their mandatory National Youth Service cannot be hired after their service year. Only a few of them will be fortunate enough to find paid work. As a result of the country’s economic problems, being a graduate of a higher institution of learning or holding professional qualifications is no longer sufficient.
Qualifications in subjects such as law, medicine, accounting, engineering, and so on do not guarantee employment.
Entrepreneurship education has been proposed as a means of assisting the country in addressing the chronic problem of unemployment and poverty among Nigeria’s teeming youths and graduates, allowing them to be both job creators and wealth builders (Midea, 2004, Izedonmi, 2009, Unachukwu, 2009).
Attending entrepreneurial training classes, development programs, conferences, and workshops are just a few of the ways to develop your entrepreneurial skills.
For many years, Nigeria has seen the growth of entrepreneurship. Several government organizations and institutions have had varying degrees of success in various aspects of entrepreneurship development. Entrepreneurship Development Center (EDC), Management Development Center (MD), and National Directorate
Former Nigeria Industrial Development Bank (NIDB), Nigerian Bank for Commerce and Industry (NBCI), Nigerian University Commission (NUC), National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS), National Open Apprenticeship Scheme (NOAS), Small and Medium Enterprise Development Association of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Small and Medium Enterprises Equation Scheme (SMEDAN), Small and Medium Enterprises Equation Scheme (SMEDAN), Small and Medium Enterprises Equation Scheme (SMEDAN), Small and Medium Enterprises Equation Scheme (SMED
The Nigerian government and policymakers are struggling to address graduate unemployment. The high rate of unemployment can be attributed to a lack of appropriate preparation for job creation in development plans, ever-expanding educational growth, and adolescents’ frantic desire to obtain University education regardless of course and course content. As a result, many university skills appear to be obsolete and unnecessary. With
The country’s universities produce an increasing number of graduates with each passing academic year. Every year, the NYSC mobilizes approximately 250,000 graduates. However, 227,136 corps members served in 2012.
The National Youth Service Corps Scheme and the organization that administers it have been a true weapon for promoting national unity since its inception in 1973. The scheme has been reengineered and reloaded in order to realign its programs and contents in order to better fulfill its tasks and obligations. The program has increased its efforts to develop regulations that will allow corps members to provide selfless service to the nation while also preparing them for future leadership roles and the challenges of post-service life. One of the is skill acquisition and entrepreneurship development.
policies.
The inclusion of training in Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development for corps members is intended to ensure that they become job creators rather than job seekers. In the long run, the project is expected to spark an industrial revolution in the country. The Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development push of the scheme is divided into two parts: Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development. The first component focuses on providing interested corps members with specific technical/vocational abilities in specified skill sets based on individual interest, whereas the second component focuses on developing corps members’ business/enterprise capacity. Corps members are now learning Agro-allied, Food Preservation, Culture and Tourism, Cosmetology, Information Communication Technology (ICT), Environment, Beautification, Construction, Education, Power and Energy, Film and Photography, and Automobile.
National Youth Service (NYS)
Corps collaborates with a number of national and international organizations to ensure that the scheme’s goals are met. These organizations provide materials, technical assistance, and financial support to the program. Memorandums of understanding have been signed with the Bank of Industry (BOI), the International Labour Organization (ILO), and others. To support the initiative’s goals, the skill development program has trained 285,000 corps members (The Source Magazine, 2016).
According to Small Business Service (2005), having the entrepreneurial skills to create new knowledge-based social enterprises is critical to effectively addressing social and environmental challenges. Following the global financial crisis, entrepreneurship has emerged as a critical pillar of economic growth and development, job creation, and poverty alleviation (Unachukwu, 2009). As a result, Nigeria is unable to afford
additional workers.
When considering graduates for any given job or profession, the issue of a lack of expertise and experience is critical. According to Ekong (2008), Nigerian institutions of higher learning have focused more on theoretical and abstract instructional delivery, primarily on cognitive growth, producing non-entrepreneurial trained graduates for the labor market. The lack of a relationship between the needs of universities and labor employers (administrative/technical/course content, etc.) could not influence the undergraduate curriculum to allow the fresh graduate to be employed by organizations.
The Supervised Industrial Training Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) was designed to expose our students to the labor market before they graduate, but it has been hampered by a lack of planning, oversight, and corruption. Corruption has occurred.
Employment in Nigeria, both in the public and private sectors, has been affected. Who you know and how much money you have to offer may influence your chances of getting hired.
The Nigerian government has been collaborating with private investors to promote entrepreneurship skill acquisition and development, but little progress has been made. This is due to the attitude, lack of understanding, and misconceptions about entrepreneurship among young undergraduates. As a result of this problem, the National Youth Service Corps created the Entrepreneurship Skill Acquisition Program, which corps members can use as training throughout their service year.
Despite the efforts of previous administrations to eliminate unemployment, the situation of Nigerian graduates remains dire. As a result, the goal of this study is to investigate
The role of the NYSC skill acquisition program in lowering Nigeria’s unemployment rate.
The Goal of the Research
The goal of this research is to determine how much the National Youth Service Corps’ Entrepreneurship Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development training has contributed to the reduction of unemployment in Nigeria. The research focuses on:
1. Determining the extent to which the National Youth Service Corps skill acquisition program has contributed to the reduction of unemployment;
2. To investigate the relevance of skill acquisition training to the requirements expected for undergraduate recruitment into various organizations in need of their services; and
3. Determine the government’s commitment to funding the program and the roles that government agencies play in the training of graduates under the National Youth Service Corps.
(NYSC) program.
Research Issues
1. Has the National Youth Service Corps Skill Acquisition Program been successful in lowering the rising unemployment rate?
2. Are the skills under consideration relevant to the needs of the various organizations?
3. Is the program adequately funded by the government to achieve its goals?
The Importance of the Research
Graduate unemployment and the demand for university education in Nigeria have both increased dramatically. This research lays the groundwork for graduates seeking employment or self-employment to meet the country’s unemployment challenges.
The study also provides a comprehensive view of the National Youth Service Corps Scheme’s success as a job creation tool in the socioeconomic development of graduates.
and the country’s overall national development.
In theory, it adds significantly to the existing literature on the subject. It also discusses the effectiveness of the National Youth Service Corps in reducing unemployment in Nigeria. Data on the number of graduates who have been trained in Entrepreneurship Skill Acquisition and their availability for employment in organizations have been made available.
The findings of this study would provide research information on the government’s and its agencies’ Entrepreneurship Skill Acquisition program, which is currently lacking in the literature. That is, there is insufficient research on the government’s contribution to the effectiveness of the National Youth Service Corps Entrepreneurship Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development program, as well as its implementation.
constraints.
The study will help policymakers by ensuring that effective and efficient policies are proposed to the government for the enhancement and sustainability of the skill acquisition program for graduates during their service year, with the goal of reducing mass poverty and unemployment in the country.
The Corps members will be professionally trained in a variety of skills necessary for survival in an increasingly volatile economic environment. They would have been trained in skills that would enable them to create jobs, avoiding poverty and unemployment. They, too, will become employers of our youth for the various jobs that they will create.
Finally, the study would be useful to general readers and researchers who want to research the same or related topics.
on Entrepreneurship Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development.
Study Objectives
The study’s main goal was to evaluate the National Youth Service Corps’s effectiveness in facilitating youth employment. The National Youth Service Corps offers a variety of skill-acquisition and job-creation programs. The programs aim to improve skills and create jobs for both graduates and non-graduates. Some programs are tailored to both groups. As a result, the scope of this study was limited to graduates only. Graduate students from universities and polytechnics are among those serving in the Surulere Local Government Area of Lagos State.
Term Definitions
The following terms are defined in the study:-
Skill acquisition is the training of a person in a specific skill.
task or function, making him or her an expert in it.
Unemployed: This refers to the number of economically active graduates who are unemployed but available for and seeking work, including those who have been laid off or voluntarily left their jobs.
Unemployment: When people are out of work.
Unemployment Rate: This is a measure of the level of unemployment and is calculated as a percentage by dividing the number of unemployed people by the total number of people in the labor force.
Entrepreneurship: The ability and willingness to develop, organize, and manage a business venture, as well as any risks associated with it, in order to profit and be self-employed.
Entrepreneurship skill development: This is the training that the entrepreneur receives. It contains
Personal characteristics, interpersonal skills, critical and creative thinking abilities, and practical abilities are all important.
Poverty is defined as a condition in which a person or group of people are unable to meet their most basic and elementary human survival needs, such as good nutrition, clothing, shelter, health, education, recreation, and so on.
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