Nigeria’s labour institutions are inconsistently funded, lack transparency – Analyst

Nigeria possesses several institutions dedicated to labour and employment. Yet, the consensus among experts is that these bodies are often more “decorative” than functional, hampered by inconsistent funding and a lack of transparency.

The digital divide further complicates access to these schemes. Many programmes require online applications, a significant barrier for the millions of unemployed youths who lack reliable internet access or electricity.

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In a recent discussion on the matter,  Dayo Sobowale, Arise News analyst, explored the structural failures holding back the nation’s social contract and the urgent need for sustainable, skill-based interventions.

“The fact that you have so many young unemployed shows that what they have done is not adequate,” he remarked.

“The apparatus to relieve this challenge is there, but what is the performance?

“There’s no linkage between theory and practice. The recruitment method is faulty. It has to be changed to make sure that the language of recruitment gets to the appropriate target in the rural areas”, he noted.

Sobowale also issued an urgent call for a radical increase in funding for youth job creation, to combat the twin crises of soaring unemployment and rising insecurity.

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According to him, the link between joblessness and crime is undeniable, with idle young people increasingly becoming prime recruits for criminal networks and insurgent groups.

Joblessness and insecurity
Sobowale noted that the correlation between a lack of formal employment and the rise in national insecurity has reached a tipping point. When the state fails to provide a viable economic pathway for its youth, alternative and often violent structures fill the void.

He acknowledged that this failure is effectively a recruitment tool for insurgents. “Youths need to be employed. If they are not employed by the state, then these insurgents and criminals, kidnappers, and those who want to break the law to get rich quickly are there to recruit them,” he warned.

He further observed that in many dislocated communities, insurgents provide the very basic facilities that the state does not, such as food and shelter. “When youth are unemployed, when they are jobless, they are meat for further insurgency. It is in the interest of the government to take care of the youth and then to make sure that it protects the people’s territory, because that is the mandate of the government.”

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Beyond the degree: The vocational gap
While traditional university education remains a priority, there is a growing consensus that the Nigerian labour market is suffering from a massive deficit in practical skill acquisition.

Industries such as the creative economy, fintech, and AI require a level of technical readiness that the current educational system is struggling to provide.

Sobowale pointed to a significant regional divide in educational access and values, particularly in the North. “In the North, we have the largest number of underage children out of school, not to mention out of work,” he stated. He argued that the lack of formal secondary schooling makes these youths easy targets for manipulation. “We can only break that cycle if we succeed in restoring security to the North… most state governments concentrate on the urban setting, and the whole of the country thrives on the Northern-Southern migration.”

The election cycle paradox
One of the most poignant criticisms raised is the sudden efficiency of youth mobilisation during election seasons.

While government job schemes often struggle with logistics and reach, political rallies are consistently well-organised and managed by the very youth the state otherwise ignores.

Sobowale describes this as a “Nigerian malady,” where promises of economic utopia are made on the campaign trail, only for leadership to “relax and sleep” once power is attained.

“The theoretical things to do are there, but the link between theory and delivery has broken down,” he concluded. “It’s a matter of mobilisation. It is a matter of reorientation. It is a matter of the ministries responsible having a sense of urgency and a sense of responsibility to deliver on the mandate they have as social institutions.”