The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has asserted that the alarming unemployment rate in Nigeria is one of the most critical challenges facing Nigeria as a keg of gunpowder, and if left unchecked could implode with dire consequences.
This remark was made by the chairman of the association, Apapa branch, Frank Onyebu, who explained that with a reported unemployment rate of over 33 percent, Nigeria stands as the second-highest in the world, which indeed is a ticking time bomb and a disaster waiting to happen.
According to him, it’s rather unfortunate that most Nigerians have not considered the implication of the sad reality, saying everyone should be worried, not just the government. ‘Yes, every Nigerian needs to be worried.
‘Do you know the implication of having a third of your workforce jobless? We are talking about tens of millions of able-bodied men and women sitting around, doing nothing! You know what they say about idle minds being the devil’s workshop.’
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Further analysing the state of unemployment, Frank said: ‘We are truly sitting on a keg of gunpowder.
Of course, we’ve always known that the unemployment situation in Nigeria is bad. All you need to do is move around the streets. Whether in the day or at night, you would see people roaming about aimlessly.
‘You would find hawkers all over the place. And if you look closely, you will realise that the total value of what these individuals are hawking is not nearly enough to sustain a human being, which implies that the majority of these hawkers are just passing the time.
‘Many transform into petty thieves and robbers at night. You can see why I stated earlier that we should all be concerned’.
He emphasized that no society can survive for long with the level of unemployment, which is bound to implode.
‘These jobless people are bound to fight back because the government has failed. The unfortunate thing is that, when the crisis starts, there’s not going to be a distinction between people in government and ordinary hardworking individuals. Everybody becomes a target’.
To avert this disaster, he proffered a holistic economic revolution and a total economic transformation.
The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) is an association for all manufacturers operating in Nigeria.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK