Nigeria is sitting on a time bomb that is not far from explosion. Perhaps with the current reality it depicts danger. In short, if nothing practically is done to address this tension and incoming disaster that awaits this country, the repercussion will be hullabaloo and very enormous to manage. As things stand, the Nigerian economy is in total paralysis where all public corporations are in total coma and smorgasbord.
Currently, inflation in Nigeria as reported by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as of March this year is 13.34% compare to previous months of January and February year 2018, which were 15.13% and 14.33% respectively. For the Central Bank of Nigeria it is a progress at least to have a slid reduction in percentage. But what this translate, going by the current reality in the country. The economy has not improved both realistically and practically. Joblessness is growing by percentage every day.
This is something that is getting a lot of Nigerians worried as each day passes by. Thousands of youth between Sixteen to Twenty Six of workable age are massively unemployed. They roam around the street morning till night without nothing seriously engaging them. A lot of the youth are largely frustrated that they decide to embark on drugs, prostitution, domestic crime and violence in order to go on with this miserable life. Just as it is tilling in many poor communities in Nigeria. The joblessness crisis has become a serious headline virtually in all newspapers.
For the past weeks, the media in Nigeria have been reporting news concerning youth in different parts of the country going into drugs especially in the Northern part of Nigeria. Following a BBC documentary showing increasing number of youth who are jobless going into drugs, especially "codeine", the Federal government decided to ban it. This will sound a positive step taken by the Federal government under the watch of the Buhari administration.
However, the ban of codeine does not resolve the fundamental question of what largely is responsible to the rise of why thousands of Nigerian youth are engaging into illegal taking of hard drugs. The Punch Newspaper on May 4, 2018 reported that one of the major manufacturers of codeine that has spent almost 50 years in the country is Nigerian German Chemical (NGC) company. In spite of Mission Tackle Drug (MTD) in Nigeria (NDLEA, NAFDAC etc launched). Companies like the NGC and others are largely benefiting from the pit of unemployment crisis the government has created in order to sustain its market and profit.
Sadly enough, the numbers of youth who fall in the age category of 16 to 26 or above, are jobless and highly frustrated. Vanguard (5/5/2018) also reported the rise of youth taking drugs like codeine, opioid, heroin, tramador etc most especially in poor communities, in order to kill the drilling frustration they are into right now. Just as it is mention, the step taken by the federal government to ban these drugs might look positive to many Nigerians as a way forward to curb or as presented, to save the lives of thousands of youths this country is wasting away.
But just like Vanguard stated the obvious that "unless and until these questions are addressed which largely boils down to poverty, illiteracy and unemployment, and for as long as criminal elements exploiting the vulnerability of these youths for financial gains abound in the society, the banned substance, like many others banned before it, will only be relocating to the black markets, where it may possibly gain higher patronage". This is the exact contradiction in the so-called ban the Federal government has taken.
More than Sixty percent or thereabout of the Nigeria population are largely made up of youth. As a matter of fact, they are fast growing as recent reports show. Possibly in the next few years it will triple going by the increase of population in Nigeria. Besides, as earlier stated, joblessness in the country is now a ticking bomb that if nothing fundamental is done about it the explosion shall be uncontrollably. Fracture is what is going on right now on the numbers of youth going into hard drugs. Perhaps, it is now a major concern that in many poor community, the storyline are a different episode.
SLUMPHOTOS unveil the hideous side of joblessness. Recently, on Thursday 3/5/2018 in Ajegunle (one of the poorest slum in Lagos). Group of boys in their numbers between the ages of 16 to 23 were with cutlasses, bottles, club etc around 8:45pm heading to another community for a gang war. Similar situation also took place at Ijora-Badia on 5/5/2018 where the police had to intervene in order to quell it from further escalating. Thus, this is one out of hundred of such clashes that occur in the community. Sometime, the eruption of this might last for days, weeks as in year 1999 and 2000 sectarian clash in Ajegunle.
The local Politicians ruling the council areas of both Ajeromi Ifelodun LGA and LCDA respectively have contributed to the eruption of this crisis. This is due to the failure to implement social welfare programme in the community to improve the lives of young people. Prior or during the election, the local politicians of the ruling parties will arm these jobless youths, assuring them roses when they get to power. The last election is a reference. The former Lagos State Speaker of the House (Hon. Taiwo Kolawale Musibua) from Ajeromi Ifelodun constituency, who lost the State House of Assembly election 2015, was guilty of this atrocity and perpetrated evil.
The ruling politicians will always come up with excuses that the local government does not have the resources to provide jobs for the people especially the growing numbers of youths who are jobless and angered. For them, it is the duty of the Federal government to do so. That theirs is to render social services. But going by the Federal Allocation and the Internal Generated Revenue of the local government as we have it in Ajeromi Ifelodun LGA, confirms that there is no tenable excuse for the government not to provide social welfare which is largely linked to the provision of jobs for people in the community.
But what obtains is seeing the ruling politicians continue to loot public resources, engage into contract, programmes that dont have any direct impact into the lives of people all in the name of saying government is "doing something". Failing to put things right continue to erupt more growing tension in the country. Forcing thousands of youth who are jobless to go into crime and violence, drugs etc. Poverty, illiteracy, joblessness etc has contributed enormously to this crisis. Thousands of lives on daily basis are destroyed because the government has failed.
Providing job for the people is not a difficult thing. It doesn't need permutation to solve the crisis. It is just policy implementation to adequately address societal challenges. Resources of the society have to be deployed to provide jobs for people with adequate provision of welfare at all levels. A practical example is when the power sector is nationalized and democratically managed to provide adequate and regular supply.
Thousands of youth unemployed, roaming the street jobless will be employed. In fact, many of them including those casual workers in the industry will be trained with modern technique. The same will also go for other sectors in the economy. Achieving this will require a socialist program where profit and greed of few will not be the thrust
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Copyright @Fidel Davy
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