Nigeria has more than 90 million unemployed youths, some of whom are graduates, Executive secretary of National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Professor Idris Muhammad Bugaje said.
He also said there are 10 million out-of-school children, the majority of whom are Almajirai in the country.
According to him, high rate of unemployment is largely responsible for the security challenges bedeviling Northern Nigeria and the entire country.
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Speaking at the annual general meeting of the Science and Technology Forum (STF) held in Kaduna, Professor Bugaje said there is a group of unemployed youths springing up in Kano called the anarchists, who have resolved to destroy government installations.
He said the group is small for now, but might grow to become another security threat to the country if urgent measures are not taken by the government.
Bugaje, however, said that the only solution to the high unemployment rate is for the government to ensure that the unemployed youths acquire skills.
He said of the numbers of the unemployed youth many obtained their degrees and diplomas from various tertiary institutions in the country but are roaming the streets without jobs to do.
According to him, “As we speak the unemployment rates in the country are alarming because there are about 90 million unemployed youth in the country and the majority of them obtained their degrees but without jobs.
“Bangladesh supplies its youths with skills to countries like Saudi Arabia and others as artisans. At the end, they get foreign currency to take home. So why can’t we train our youth on skills acquisition.
“This is why we are mandating our tertiary institutions to ensure they offer training on Technical Vocational Education Training, TVET because we are hoping that by next year we will not offer accreditation to any course without the institutions offering courses on TVET.
“There is a group of unemployed youths springing up in Kano. They are called the anarchists. They say they have been abandoned by the government and therefore they would be destroying all government installations they come across. It is a small group for now, but we need to take action now before the group grows and become another serious security threat to the country,” he said.
The NBTE boss however urged the federal government to ensure that skill acquisition courses are given priority in tertiary institutions as a solution to the rate of unemployment in the country.
In his valedictory report, outgoing president of STF, Professor Ibrahim Mohammed-Dabo said the Forum was established 20 years ago by patriotic Nigerian scientists and engineers of northern extraction for the purpose of promoting science and technology for the development of the Northern region.
