The President of African Development Bank, AfDB, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has lamented the high rate of joblessness among Nigerians, saying about 40 per cent of youths were unemployed.
Adesina, who disclosed this at a lecture in Lagos, said the youths were discouraged, angry and restless, as they look at a future that does not give them hope.
In the lecture, titled, “Nigeria – A Country of Many Nations: A Quest for National Integration”, Dr. Adesina , however, said all hope was not lost as youths have a vital role to play, if the country should arrive at its destined destination.
According to the latest Labour Force report of the National Bureau of Statistics, unemployment among young Nigerians (15- 34 years) is the highest in the country, with 21.72 million or 42.5 per cent of the 29.94 young Nigerians in the labour force unemployed, while the national unemployment rate stood at 33.3 per cent as at December 2020.
“For the period under review, Q4, 2020, the unemployment rate among young people (15- 34years) was 42.5%, up from 34.9%, while the rate of underemployment for the same age group declined to 21.0% from 28.2% in Q2, 2020.
These rates were the highest when compared to other age groupings”, the NBS said in its “Labour Force Statistics, Unemployment And Under Employment – Q4 2020”.
