CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1  BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

This chapter provides a broad overview of the employment situation in graduate s which is a major concern of government and their social partner throughout the region. Theapproach is rather general and highlights major issues concerning employment problems and prospects in the region. Because of data limitation, it does not attempt a comprehensive and quantitative analysis of the employment situation. it brings with an examination of the employment problems, including background information on its origin and trends, and then looks at the nature and underlying causes of contemporary unemployment. Unemployment of a large portion of the labor force is a central problem now in almost all the underdeveloped countries.

The phenomenon major concern

of of

chronic unemployment successive Nigerian

has become government.

the The

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phenomenon of joblessness creates much concern for the individual Nigerians. According to the 1966 - 67 manpower surveys in Nigeria, the proportion of the labour force in Nigeria not working is 1 - 7 percent, which means that nearly two of every one hundred member of the potential labor are unemployed.

Unemployment has thus reached such an alarming situation today that is perhaps considered the most serious of the problem affecting Nigeria and one that is steadily worsening as the gap between the rapid rising member pressing for work and the new employment opportunities being created widens.

In the underdeveloped countries such as Nigeria however employment benefits are not available to the unemployed. the income level of the great majority of families makes the provision of unemployment benefits virtually impossible thus those unable to find jobs or these discharged from their previous employments re left to fend for themselves. in under developed countries majority of job seekers are therefore forced to create

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employment for themselves particularly in the rural agricultural sectors where they force disguised unemployment. in the context of this study both those who are disguised unemployment. in the context of this study both those who are disguisedly unemployed and those who are openly unemployed are lumped together as the unemployed.

thus unemployment is define briefly as the negative aspect of the economic process for an unemployed person is one who despite his willingness and capacity to work is unable to do so for reasons inherent in the organization of the commodity production.

1.2  STATEMENT OF RESEARCH PPROBLEMS

Unemployment rates are particularly high among graduate and especially among school leaves, giving rise increasingly to the problems of "educated unemployment". paradoxically, graduate unemployment seems to be correlated with levels of education attained in some cases. This is particularly true for school leavers in, for example, Nigeria where the proportion of the unemployed with secondary education increased from 24 to 51 percent

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between  1974

and

1985.  graduate

employment  rates  are

probably 3 - 4 times

higher than those of older workers, and in

many  countries

in

the  region  open

unemployment  among

graduate  as a group in the labour could be as 40 - 50 percent.

Moreover, graduate s and new entrants to the labour force are as well placed as experienced workers to find employment in new opportunities or to go into self employment. Theproblems of graduate unemployment reflect the contraction of jobs in the modern sector and declining rate of job creation in that sector. It also suggests serious labour market distortions related to the development and utilization of human resources in the context

of changing economic circumstances. further, the problem of graduate unemployment islinked to the fact of many African countries, as already noted, continue to record relatively high rates of population growth, and the population structure of some of those countries is overwhelmingly young will children of school going age accounting for as much as half of the total population in some cases.

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1.3  OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

Unemployment has become a current and a current universal problem in Nigeria. The impact presently has been felt by 80% of Nigerian's families. The efforts of our government to curb it are inadequate or misdirected, so positive results are not yet in sight.

Unemployment has brought hardship and object poverty to many families. The level of adult dependency has increased, so the rate of saving in our economy is declining. The problem has also led to increase in crime waves and rates. All these could spell doom for the nation. It is deemed fit to embark on this study as a contribution towards the eradication of the problems of unemployment and its accompanying problems and hardship to the individual and in general.

Our primary motive of carrying out this study were born of the desire to contribute in any meaningful way the idea of how the glowing rate of unemployment in Nigeria can be dealt with in order to reduce its social and other consequences especially on our leaders of tomorrow to at least a minimum.

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