the criminology and criminal justice network
This topic has been research explored discuss implemented new type of training but yet one aspect that has not been explored to its fullest extent the human element you can be train not to be bias…Continue
Started by Thomas Jones Jr., Ph.D. Last reply by Larry Grzybowski Sep 27, 2011.
This website is a good starting point for anyone interested in culture and crime http://blogs.kent.ac.uk/culturalcriminology/
Started by Rashid Aziz Sep 12, 2011.
I always find this an interesting topic to discuss in class - using articles like this: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6938411.stm
Started by Rashid Aziz Sep 12, 2011.
Add a Comment
Comment by Clare Rogers on April 5, 2012 at 10:19 In my first year of University, I did a module on crime and society which meant that we touched on cultural criminology but never went into great depths about it, I found it very interesting and wish I could have done more. So ive joined this group in hope to carry on my own learning despite having graduated last year
Is anyone planning on attending the British Society of Criminology conference this year?
I want to post an article I wrote on the 'Effects of Unemployment' and I want to every reader of this article to note that every effort you make in life can either give someone an offer or rub someone of an offer-emplyment!
Please read through...
YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT AND IMPLICATIONS
FOR
STABILITY OF DEMOCRACY IN NIGERIA
BY
Mathew Chinweoru Nwokwu
JANUARY, 2012
TABLE OF CONTENT
Introduction
Definition of Term
Global Analysis
Nigerian Situation
Causes of Youth Unemployment
Implication of Youth Unemployment
Solution to Youth Unemployment
Conclusion
YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT AND IMPLICATIONS FOR STABILITY OF DEMOCRACY IN NIGERIA MATHEW CHINWEORU NWOKWU
INTRODUCTION
In Nigeria, democracy has been restored for over a decades ago, which so much hopes and expectations by the people. For instance, it is assumed that with democracy, people would be free to choose their leaders and representatives and hold them accountable for the overall objective of fast tracking development and improving the general living conditions of the masses. This expectation is not misplaced considering that Nigeria has abundant human and natural resources. However, the reality on ground has shown that this expectation is yet to be realized. Hence, the growing sense of despondency among the masses. In other countries in North African like Tunisia, Egypt and Libya where dictators have held sway for over three decades, people have revolted against the system. Though
these countries can be said to be less democratic than Nigeria, yet the living condition of the people in real economic terms is better (Abati, 2011a; Abati, 2011b; Adejumobi, 2011) Furthermore, the unemployment rates in these countries are more or less like that of Nigeria (Ojenagbo, 2011). The major concern here therefore is, given the kind of violent agitations that pervaded the above mentioned countries with relatively better living conditions than Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa (Volume 13, No.1, 2011) ISSN: 1520-5509 Clarion University of Pennsylvania, Clarion, Pennsylvania. What is the guarantee that large army of unemployed youths will not engage in activities that would undermine the stability of democracy in Nigeria?
The problem of chronic youth unemployment is very evident in Nigeria. Every year thousands of graduates are turn out for whom there are no jobs. Nigerian streets are littered with youth hawkers who ordinarily would have found gainful employment in some enterprise; or would have demonstrated their skills and resourcefulness if there are enabling environments and reliable management structures on ground. The problem of power generation and distribution should be tackled if entrepreneurial development should attain greater height. The self employed are in quandary as scant infrastructure makes it impossible for them to ply their trade. The large number of youths who are unemployment is capable of undermining democratic practice as they constitute a serious threat if engaged by the political class for clandestine activities (Adepegba, 2011; Ibrahim, 2011; Lartey, 2011; Olatunji & Abioye, 2011). The reason being that ‘security’ which is the panacea for any meaningful socio-economic activities has not been fully understood and integrated in our scheme of things; the South African White Paper on Defence 1996, defined “Security” as an all-encompassing condition in which individual citizen lives in freedom, peace and safety, participate fully in the process of governance, enjoy the protection of fundamental rights, have access to resources and the basic necessities of life; and inhibit an environment which is not detrimental to their health and well-being.”
DEFINITION OF TERMS
Simply put, unemployment describes the condition of people who are without jobs. The International Labor Organization (ILO) defines the unemployed as numbers of the economically active population who are without work but available for and seeking work, including people who have lost their jobs and those who have voluntarily left work (World Bank, 1998:63). Also, for Adebayo (1999) this exists when members of the labor force wish to work but cannot get jobs.
Youth unemployment, therefore, could be described as the conglomerate of youths with diverse background, willing and able to work, but cannot find any; or cannot find the type of job that they are trained to do, and which they will be proud to do as their area of expertise. When the supply of labour outstrips the demand for labour, it causes joblessness and unemployment. Given the lack of sufficient employment opportunities in the formal sector, young people may be compelled to engage in casual work and other unorthodox livelihood sources, thus leading to underemployment (Echebiri, 2005; Gibb & George, 1990; Onah, 2001).
GLOBAL ANALYSIS
Unemployment is a global trend, but it occurs mostly in developing countries of the world, with attendant social, economic, political, and psychological consequences. Thus, massive youth unemployment in any country is an indication of far more complex problems. The ILO (2007) report showed that the proportions of world unemployment are steadily increasing and that the number of those without jobs remained at an all time high of more than 195 million, or 6.3 percent, in 2007. For instance, during that period (2007), the Middle East and North Africa were the regions with the highest unemployment rate in the world at 12.2 percent, followed by sub-Saharan Africa at nearly 10 percent. East Asia's unemployment rate of 3.6 percent remained the lowest. The report affirmed that population growth, especially in South Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa, was putting a lot of pressure on job creation. The report concluded that half of all workers in the world - some 1.4 billion working poor - lived in families that survived on less than US $2 a day per person. These people worked in the vast informal sector - from farms to fishing, from agriculture to urban alleyways - without benefits, social security, or healthcare. Some 550 million working poor lived on US $1 or less per day. In absolute terms, it is estimated that
there are about 122 million youths on the African continent (Echebiri, 2005; Chigunta, 2002). Therefore, projections of the population growth into the 21st century indicated that the proportion of youths, in relation to the overall population, will continue to grow. Todaro (1992) pointed out that the high rate of unemployment is a result of continuous transfer of economic activities, especially the youths from rural to urban areas.
YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT: THE NIGERIAN SITUATION
In Nigeria, accurate unemployment rates are difficult to access. However, according to Oyebade (2003), Nigeria’s unemployment can be grouped into two categories: first, the older unemployed who lost their jobs through retrenchment, redundancy, or bankruptcy; and second, the younger unemployed, most of whom have never been employed.
For Awogbenle and Iwuamadi (2010), the statistics from the Manpower Board and the Federal Bureau of Statistics showed that Nigeria has a youth population of 80 million, representing 60% of the total population of the country. Also, 64 million of them are unemployed, while 1.6 million are under-employed. The 1990-2000 data on youth unemployment showed that the largest group of the unemployed is the secondary school graduates. Also, 40% of the unemployment rate is among urban youth aged 20 - 24 and 31% of the rate is among those aged 15-19. Also, two-thirds of the urban unemployed are ranged from 15-24 years old. Moreover, the educated unemployed tended to be young males with few dependents. There are relatively few secondary school graduates and the lowered job expectations of primary-school graduates. The authors, however, admitted that there is no consistent trend of unemployment rates in Nigeria. An increase in one or two years is sometimes followed by a decline in the subsequent years.
According to National Bureau of Statistics (2009:238; 2010:2), the National Unemployment Rates for Nigeria between 2000 and 2009 showed that the number of unemployed persons constituted 31.1% in 2000; 13.6% in 2001; 12.6% in 2002; 14.8% in 2003; 13.4% in 2004; 11.9% in 2005; 13.7% in 2006; 14.6% in 2007; 14.9% in 2008 and 19.7% in 2009.
Specifically as regards the age group, educational group and sex, data provided by the National Bureau of Statistics (2010:3) further showed that as at March 2009 in Nigeria, for persons between ages 15 and 24 years, 41.6% were unemployed. For persons between 25 and 44 years, 17% were unemployed. Also, those with primary education, 14.8% were unemployed and for those with only secondary education, 23.8% were unemployed. Furthermore, for those with post secondary education, 21.3% were unemployed. For those who never attended school and those with below primary education, 21.0% and 22.3% were unemployed respectively. As regards sex, data showed that males constituted 17.0% while females constituted 23.3%.
It is important to note that the figures above may not have captured in totality the youth unemployment situation in Nigeria, however, they are pointing to the fact that the phenomenon is a very critical issue with far-reaching implications for stability of democracy, good governance and socio-economic virility.
CAUSES OF YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT IN NIGERIA
In the study of unemployment in Nigeria, Adebayo (1999), Alanana (2003), Awogbenle and Iwuamadi (2010), Ayinde (2008), Echebiri (2005) and Morphy (2008) have identified the main causes of youth unemployment in Nigeria.
of population on Nigeria’s unemployment problem is multifaceted. It affects the supply side through a high and rapid increase in the labour force relative to the absorptive capacity of the economy.
does not possess the skills needed by the employers of labour for a formal employment. Often, this is attributed to the Nigeria’s education system, with its liberal bias. The course contents of most tertiary education in Nigeria lack
entrepreneurial contents that would have enabled graduates to become job creators rather than job seekers. Also, bribery and corruption have crept into the system, thereby giving room to what I often call ‘Wait and Get Certificates’ that are now paraded by most university graduates. We must restore discipline and meritocracy in education sector. We must encourage our students to development entrepreneurial skills rather than training them to depend absolutely on white collar jobs.
IMPLICATIONS OF YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT
It is misplaced to argue that one of the greatest threats to democratic stability and sustenance in Nigeria is the large army of unemployed youths. Bubbling with energy and innovations, these youths could be used for destabilizing influence in Nigeria by the politicians who may wish to capture power at all cost or unleash mayhem to their political opponents. The presence of large army of unemployed youths in Nigeria is a clear case of failure of leadership to utilize abundant human and natural resources in the country to create jobs that will engage the youths in productive and meaningful economic activities (Adejumobi, 2011).
The unemployed youths have become political thugs and blood-thirsty hoodlums at the disposal of the politicians. The point here is that when large numbers of youths are unemployed, their quest to survive may make them to become willing tools in the hands of maverick and disgruntled politicians who may want to use them for anti-social and clandestine political activities. The utilization of the unemployed youths to perpetuate ethno-religious clashes in the present democratic dispensation are well documented (Ibrahim, 2006; Okafor, 2007b). However, the utilization and manipulation of mostly unemployed and ignorant youths to perpetuate post elections violence during 2011 presidential election adjudged to be free, fair, transparent and credible by both local and international observers that claimed over five hundred lives in especially states like Kaduna, Kano, Bauchi, Katsina and Gombe (including over nine youth corps members on national assignment) and displaced over fifteen thousand persons in the Northern parts of Nigeria is a clear indication of an attempt to use this category of youths to bring democracy to a brink and destabilize the nation (Adepegba, 2011; Ibrahim, 2011; Lartey, 2011; Olatunji & Abioye, 2011). It also shows that some politicians are not ready to utilize legal provisions to seek redress of perceived injustice in the electoral system. The implication here is that no democracy has strived and stabilized in the atmosphere of lawlessness, political thuggry, intimidations, killings, maiming and unabated destruction of lives and property like the type witnessed between 18th and 19th April, 2011 in some states in Northern Nigeria when it was evident that a particular presidential candidates was loosing or had lost election. This kind of violence amounts to infringing on the rights of other citizens to freely make their choice. This can lead to neither the growth of democracy nor its stability (Abati,
2011c; Obeakemhe, 2011). Another classical example of how youth restiveness can be engendered by unemployment is the recent killings in the North by a member of Islamic sects called “Boko Haram” which literally means, ‘Western Education is Sin’. The BusinessDay Newspaper of January, reports that over 900 people have been killed since 2009 by the group. But the question is what has the government at all level and the security industry done to curb the ordeal? According to Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, the frontier leader of the peoples of the Republic of Biafra during the Nigerian Civil war between 1967 and 1970, “A leader must at all time stand for justice. He should symbolize good government. He must have physical and moral courage and most important, he must possess the ability to inspire the people out of despondency. He should resist the temptation to erect memorials to himself in his own life time. A leader who serves his people will be enshrined in the hearts and minds of his people. This is his only reward in his life time.” Today, there is a dearth of role models and mentors. Our leader must strive to leave good legacies which will make the upcoming generations to make good references about them or even wish to adopt their leadership strategies for optimum performance.
Besides using the unemployed youths for political thuggry, they have been used as local militants to attack, bomb, vandalize and destroy oil pipelines, lives and property in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria (Gilbert, 2010; Ojakorotu, 2010). For more than a decade, this category of youths have constituted the larger population of the militants in the areas who have been terrorizing and kidnapping both the expatriate and local oil workers and demanding hefty ransoms (Epelle, 2010). With this, all kinds of kidnapping including those of the political opponents and /or their relatives have spread to parts of Nigeria thus creating a general state of insecurity. Besides the legitimate agitations and demands of the youths in the Niger Delta as exemplified in militancy, some politicians have catch in on this opportunity to sponsor the kidnappings of their political opponents.
It is on record that Nigeria is the six largest producer and exporter of crude oil. Therefore disrupting oil exploration and production by the unemployed youths who felt aggrieved by the pollution and destruction of their environment and general underdevelopment in their area with the foreign exchange earnings which Nigeria as a nation most depends on to finance development projects and to stabilize democracy (Akinbobola, 2010). For Nigerian democracy to survive and stabilize there should be stable economy in order to meet the yearning and aspirations of the masses. This can only be achieved or realized in the atmosphere of stable economy (Ogungbemi, 2010).
Furthermore, another implication of youth unemployment is the resurgence of urban urchins popularly called “area boys” in Nigeria parlance. This set of unemployed youths is mostly found in urban towns and cities across Nigeria.
These area boys are a threat to democracy as they are idle hands and minds often recruited by the politicians to harass and intimidate political opponents and the innocent civilians. These youths could be manipulated by the politicians for a mere token. These groups besides being used for political thuggry, they can also be used for action, behavior and activities that could undermine electoral process such as ballot box stuffing, ballot box snatching, killing and maiming of political opponents. All these actions are all part of surreptitious political activities which are inimical to the growth, sustenance and stability of democracy in Nigeria.
In addition, there has been increase in the involvement of youths in various anti-social activities and offences as a result of unemployment. Such offences include; arson, assault, murder, abduction, terrorism, stealing, armed robbery, sex offences, unlawful possession of arms and so on. Figures supplied by the Nigerian Prisons Service (National Bureau of Statistics, 2009:248) actually confirmed this. For instance, persons admitted into the prisons by age group between 2004 and 2008 showed that as regards the youths between the ages 16 and 20 years, 31,700 youths were admitted in 2004. Others include; 40170 youths (in 2005); 19, 122 (in 2006); 16,236 (in 2007); and 25, 317 (in 2008). As regards the youths between ages 21 and 25 years, 39,045 youth were admitted in 2004; 34, 600 (in 2005); 28705 (in 2006); 57,736 (in 2007) and 28, 049 (in 2008). Also, for persons between ages 25 and 50 years, 63,100 persons were admitted in 2004; 65, 140 (in 2005); 75,491 (in 2006); 80, 134 (in 2007) and 73, 071 (in 2008). All these figures show that a large number of youths are into antisocial and criminal activities largely as a result of unemployment. This has the potential to destabilize and truncate the democratic process in Nigeria.
SOLUTION TO YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT
First the Nigerian Government must play its constitutional role by creating enabling socioeconomic and political environment including the provision of infrastructure to make industrial climate investment friendly. This will encourage investors to invest and thereby create jobs in order to absorb the unemployed youths.
Recently, the minister of Youth Development, Senator Akinlabi Olasunkanmi undertook a facility tour of the eight standard Youth Development Centres being Constructed by the Nigerian Government across the country.
A pet project that will massively equip the youth with useful trade and entrepreneurial skills in Automobile, Agricultural production and processing, integrated science clinic, computer and information technology among others.
Nigeria and Africa with massive natural and mineral resources are important and strategic members of the global community that needed understanding, patience, and support towards the socio-economic development of the continent.
The implementation of the United Nations Credit Unit Programs in Africa has the Potentials to create 38,000 jobs in the agricultural sector within a year: 50,000 skilled and unskilled jobs in the real estate project, the pharmaceutical project will absorb over 1000 pharmacists and marketers.
Moreso, the Credit Unit will partner with African Universities for the training of Nigeria and African youths as credit professionals, sponsor seminars and conferences. On conflict prevention and resolutions based on our new approach on peace advocacy. I am convinced that the current efforts of UN to enforce the operations of United Nations Credit Unit in Africa will complement and strengthen the efforts of African Governments. It is much better to get involve now in the socio-economic re-engineering than to send peace keepers afterward in an atmosphere of war occasioned by unemployment and poverty.
The Nigeria deregulation of the oil downstream which tends to remove the oil subsidy may provide the needed cash for the government to re-invest into the critical areas of infrastructure (road, electricity, water, security, education and health).
CONCLUSION
From all indications, youth unemployment is a menace in Nigeria and constitutes a real danger and a threat to Nigeria’s democracy. This is because these youths could be manipulated to undermine the stability of Nigeria’s democracy at any point in time. Against this background, there is the need by government at all levels, international community and other stakeholders to embark on massive job creation to take these youths off the streets. Granted, there may not be a quick fix to this problem, but all the stakeholders must as a matter of fact do something urgently.
Finally, democracy is a journey not a destination. For Nigeria, it is a learning process. As a matter of fact it may not a perfect system of government, but it has several advantages over other systems. People including the Nigerian youths must feel the positive impact of democracy in their lives. The situation whereby only a few privileged persons in positions of authority benefit from this system of government and the expense of the impoverished masses portends a great and real danger that may incur the wrath of the unemployed youths in Nigeria if not addressed urgently.
GREEN PAPER
Prepared by
Mathew Nwokwu
National Open University of Nigeria
Department of Criminology and Security Studies
January 27, 2012
+234 703 903 4002
mat4twins@yahoo.com
REFERENCES
Abati, R. (2011a). Egypt/Tunisia: It could happen here. The Guardian, Friday, 04 February
Abati, R. (2011b). The Collapse of Ghaddafi’s Empire. The Guardian, Friday, 25 February.
Abati, R. (2011c). For the attention of General Buhari. The Guardian, Friday, 22 April.
Adebayo, A. (1999). Youth Unemployment and National Directorate of Employment Self Employment Programmes. Nigerian Journal of Economics and Social Studies, 41(1), 81-102.
Adejumobi, S. (2011). Lessons Tunisia, Egypt and Sudan. The Guardian, Monday, 21 February
Adeloye, L. (2010). Harsh Operating Environment Claims 834 Nigerian Manufacturing Companies — Investigation.
Sunday Punch, Sunday, 31 October.
Adepegba, A. (2011). Police Arrest 51 Over Post Election Violence. The Punch, Saturday, 23 April.
Ake, C. (1996). Democracy and Development in Africa. Washington DC: The Booklings Institution.
Akinbobola, T.O. (2010). Niger Delta Crisis: Implications on Nigeria‘s Domestic Economic Output. In V. Ojakorotu
and L.D. Gilbert (Eds.), Checkmating the Resurgence of Oil Violence in the Niger Delta of Nigeria (148 – 166). Retrieved from: http://www.iags.org/Niger_Delta_book.pdf, on April, 30 2011.
Alanana, O.O. (2003). Youth Unemployment in Nigeria: Some Implications for the Third Millennium. Global Journal of Social Science, 2(1), 21-26.
Awogbenle, A.C. & Iwuamadi, K.C. (2010). Youth Unemployment: Entrepreneurship Development Programme as
an Intervention Mechanism. African Journal of Business Management, 4(6), 831-835.
Ayinde, O.E. (2008). Empirical Analysis of Agricultural Growth and Unemployment in Nigeria. African Journal of Agricultural Research, 3(7), 465-468.
Chigunta, F. (2002). The Socio-economic Situation of Youths in Africa: Problems, Prospects and Options. Dr. Boniface Afifia-Oru January 2009: Dynamics of Credit Economic System in Africa & Philosophy, Economics and Credit Development.
Comment by Patricia Bandeira de Melo on November 30, 2011 at 22:08
I'm starting studies on possible links between crime and consumption practices, or crime as a means of consumer goods, especially those that confer distinction, such as mobile phones and other objects that provide status to the individual. I would like information on similar research in this field.
Comment by Sasyabella Febriani on November 10, 2011 at 13:01 for my thesis, i have researched about media construction of a Jakarta football supporters by newspaper in Indonesia as cultural criminology studies. i passed debate how content analysis can be qualitative. then, i'd like to share that case study of cultural criminology maybe is not always about pop culture but also culture in being a supporter of sport. they also experienced a criminalization based on the cultural construction.
Comment by Gergely Fliegauf on August 1, 2011 at 21:57 The movie Blood in blood out influenced the Hungarian Romani juvenile and young adult inmates intensively. The movie shaped also their identity, their communication and attitudes. Here you can see some prison graffiti tags which I assessed from segregation cells in Hungarian prisons:
© 2013 Created by SAGE Publications.
You need to be a member of Culture, crime and cultural criminology to add comments!