THE IMPACT OF SKILL ACQUISITION AS A WAY OF REDUCING UNEMPLOYMENT AMONG YOUTHS

1.1 Introduction

Skill acquisition is the ability to be trained on a particular task or function and become expert in it. It is really unfortunate that there is a huge rate of unemployment in many parts of the world today especially in Nigeria. It is one of the causes of rapid growth in crime in many parts of the world. 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 redundancy or bankruptcy and second, the younger unemployed, most of whom have never been unemployed. 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.

As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.

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1.2 Background of Study

Skills acquisition has been recognized as an important element in the dynamics of all economies and it is regarded as the driving force in economic growth and job creation. The economic structure in Nigeria is well served by tertiary institutions in that; they generally provide a resource pool (graduates) for businesses across board. Graduates involvement in the economic development is of paramount importance. Developing graduates to have the spirit and drive towards skills acquisition education and business start-ups would entail preparing them to become successful, independent, employers of labour and hence very useful to the economy.

Unemployment is a global phenomenon; different countries of the world have had their own ordeal of unemployment. Unemployment is a key economic indicator because it signals the ability/inability of workers to readily obtain gainful work to contribute to the productive output of the economy. High, persistent unemployment can signal serious distress in an economy and even lead to social and political upheaval. At this peak of the worldwide recession that began in 2008, the international labor office announced that global unemployment reached the highest level on record. More than 200 million people, 7% of global workforce, were looking for jobs in 2009. It is not a coincidence that the global economy experienced the most severe case of unemployment during the worst economic crisis since the great depression.

Unemployment is highly dependent on economic activity; in fact, growth and unemployment can be thought of as two sides of the same coins. When economic activity is high, more production happens overall, and more people are needed to produce the higher amount of goods and services. And when economic activity is low, firms reduce their workforce and unemployment rises. In that sense, unemployment is counter cyclical, meaning it rises when economic growth is low and vice versa (Global Employment Trends, 2010).

According to Ekong and Ekong (2015), the origin of unemployment in Nigeria can be traced back to the oil boom era of 1970s. During this period, Nigerian government and individuals abandoned skill acquisition and utilization through diversified entrepreneurship practices that have the capability to boost both individual and country’s economic ego. Emphasis shifted from entrepreneurial practices to paper qualification which resulted in increased unemployment in the country. Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and the eight in the world with a population of 140 million by 2006 census with a nominal GDP of $207 Billion per capita income of $1401 it has tyrants. Unemployment in Nigeria is defined as the proportion of labor force that was available for work but do not work.

Akpoveta and Agbomah (2009) said the increasing incidence of youth unemployment particularly unemployed graduate in Nigeria has been associated with existing weakness in the nation’s educational system which places more emphasis on paper qualification than functional or pragmatic education. This result in production of unemployable graduate not suited for the labour market. Damuchi (2012) capture the present manpower – labour market discrepancy and observed that the Nigeria educational system has failed to produce workers with adequate technical, cognitive and altitudinal skill required to meet labour market demand. In order to correct this abnormally and tackle the consequence of mass youth unemployment, the federal government of Nigeria in 1986 introduced the small scale industry and graduate employment scheme under the National Directorate of Employment (NDE).

Aberu (2011) further stated that skill acquisition workshops and seminar are organized for unemployed graduates who are retrenched on the technicalities of starting and running small scale business (self employed) such as the production of industrial starch and cassava flour, manufacture of soap, detergents, mobile phone repairs, maintenance, marketing fashion designing etc.

Skill acquisition is a key to reduction of high rate of poverty, unemployment and insecurity as well as low level of technological development in the society. It is one of the proactive ways of ensuring the survival of individuals and invariably, economic growth and development of the nation. Afeti (2009) affirms that skill acquisition has emerged as one of the most effective development strategies that African countries need to embrace in order to train and modernize the technical workforce for rapid industrialization and national development. Eket (2009) also asserts that adequate management of employment challenges in Nigeria will have to be based, to a large extent, on a sustained strategy and policy that empowers the citizens to acquire relevant skills to become self-reliant. It is clear that without economic stability at individual and societal levels, there would be no sustainable peace and without peace, national security will be undermined and development hampered.

Therefore, in University of Abuja where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Impact of Skill Acquisition as a way of Reducing Unemployment among Youths.

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1.3 Statement of Problems

Investigation revealed that the major problem confronting Nigeria Youths today is joblessness. These youths constitute greater fraction of Nigeria’s economically active population. According to Awogbenle and Iwuamadi (2010), the statistics from federal bureau of statistics showed that Nigeria has a youth population of 80 million representing 60 percent of the total population of the country. Also, 64 million of them are unemployed, while 1.6 million are underemployed. This implies that a lot of energies that would have been used to generate revenues and improve the economy are being wasted.

Youths, like other classes of the population have needs to meet (Nnabuife, 2009), but since 1980’s the important roles of the youths have continued to suffer some set back as they can hardly engage themselves in meaningful work (Davies, 2006). The consequence is frustration expressed through various vices that constitute insecurity in the country. The need for this study was to show different skills acquisitions by the youth can save them unemployment that they found themselves with of government intervention through making loan accessible to them. This study, therefore, sought to provide answers to some of the issues raised and proffer recommendations.

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1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study

The aim of the study is to examine the Impact of Skill Acquisition as a way of Reducing Unemployment among Youths using University of Abuja as a case study. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:

1. To investigate the reasons for the encouragement of skill acquisition by the government among youths in the area under study;
2. To survey the impacts of skill acquisition among youths on the economy in Nigeria;
3. To evaluate the steps taken by the government to encourage skill acquisition among the youths for the development of the Nigerian economy;
4. To examine the effect of skills acquisition training among youths on unemployment reduction in Nigeria; and
5. To examine the influence of skills acquisition strategies adopted by training centers on unemployment reduction among youths in the area under study.

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1.5 Research Questions

The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:

• What are the reasons for the encouragement of skill acquisition by the government among youths in the area under study?
• What are the impacts of skill acquisition among youths on the economy in Nigeria?
• What are the steps taken by the government to encourage skill acquisition among the youths for the development of the Nigerian economy?
• What is the effect of skills acquisition training among youths on unemployment reduction in Nigeria?
• What is the influence of skills acquisition strategies adopted by training centers on unemployment reduction among youths in the area under study?

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1.6 Research Hypothesis

In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.

Hypothesis One

• H0: There is no significant relationship between unemployment and skill acquisition
• H1: There is a significant relationship between unemployment and skill acquisition

Hypothesis Two

• H0: There is no significant effect of skills acquisition training among youths on unemployment reduction in Nigeria
• H1: There is a significant effect of skills acquisition training among youths on unemployment reduction in Nigeria

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1.7 Significance of Study

The significance of the study is to benefit the youth in Nigeria by making them to be aware of the importance of skill acquisition in their lives and how it will help them to become self employed and reliant. It will also show the government on how to include skill acquisition program in the curriculum activities of all schools in the country.

In Nigeria poverty and unemployment is really assuming a crisis level. Therefore the study will be relevant in that:

1. It will provide an insight into the relevant literature
2. It will help to lay a bare the causes and effects of poverty and unemployment in Nigeria
3. It will help the general populaces to appreciate the fact that poverty and unemployment is twin scourge that need to be faced in order to achieve economic growth and development.
4. It is expected that through the findings and subsequent recommendations of this study, poverty and unemployment will be reduces or eradicated.
5. Finally it is the opinion of the researcher because it will serve as a spring board for further research.

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1.8 Scope of Study

The researcher's work focuses on the Impact of Skill Acquisition as a way of Reducing Unemployment among Youths using University of Abuja as a case study.

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1.9 Limitations of the Study

During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:

1. Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
2. Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
3. Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
4. Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

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1.10 Definition of Terms

The following definition of terms simply represents the specific meaning that will be given to them in this study:

Skill Acquisition: This is the ability to be trained on a particular task or function and become expert in it. It is a pity that there is “huge” parading of unemployment in many parts of the world today especially in Nigeria.

Economic Growth: This refers to as efforts that seek to improve the economic well-being and quality of life for a community by creating and/or retaining jobs and supporting or growing incomes and the tax base.

Unemployment: This is a situation where by one is able and willing to work at a prevailing wage rate but does not have work.