THE IMPACT OF UNEMPLOYMENT ON YOUTH DEVELOPMENT AND NATION BUILDING IN SOME SELECTED L. G. A IN EBONYI STATE
ABSTRACT
This research work made effort to examine empirically the impact of unemployment on youth development and nation building, using Afikpo, Ivo and Ikwo Local Government area as a case study. One of the many pressing challenges facing Nigeria today is youth unemployment with the ripple effect of their resort to violent crimes. The concern of many educationists and the public in general is to encourage youths to engage in useful livelihood. Youths are very important stakeholder in any society. They are not only the future of Nigeria, but also a major stakeholder and useful resource in nation building. However, available data show that youth unemployment is very prevalent in Nigeria with far reaching implications for stability of the economy. Unemployment has a negative multiplier effect not only on the individual involved but on the society as a whole. The researcher used primary and secondary methods of data collection to gather the needed data. The data obtained through questionnaires were presented in tables and analyzed using the simple percentage. The findings have also shown that factors which militate against successful youth employment development to nation building includes adoption of untimely economic policy measures, wrong impression about technical and vocational studies, the neglect of the agricultural sector, poor educational Planning and poor enabling environment, anchoring the explanation of the causes of these youth unemployment on neo-liberalism that created economic and social dislocations. The researcher therefore recommended that though government may not be able to create job enough for the teaming millions of Nigerian unemployed youths, and therefore should embark upon massive youth development programmes in all the states of the federation with entrepreneurial skills acquisition and entrepreneurship development as a key target hence a viable intervening tool for unemployment.