By Peter O Osalor
These figures only reconfirm the perception that high growth rates have failed to improve Nigeria's entrenched macro-economic deficiencies, born out of decades of failed governance, mismanagement and conflict. The downstream effects of youth unemployment are fuelling rapid alienation and social unrest across the Nigerian landscape, the immediate symptoms of which are evident in the palpable rise in organised crime, armed insurgency, vandalism and drug trafficking.
The impact of poverty
Human development indices for Africa's second largest economy continue to be appalling despite the country's bountiful resources, escalating oil fortunes and a vigorous reforms programme initiated after the return of democracy in 1999. A 2007 UNDP survey on poverty and extreme deprivation of 108 countries ranked Nigeria at the 80th position, giving it a Human Poverty Index of 37.3 - among the lowest for the entire continent2. Per capita GDP stands at a meager $1,400, with 54% of the population living on less than $1 per day3. For a country that earns an estimated $2.2 million in daily petrodollar revenue, these figures reflect an impudent malaise that has invaded every aspect of Nigerian life.
* 50 million people, most of them women and children, suffer from nutritional deficiencies.
* 10% of Nigerians are malnourished and half the population does not have access to safe drinking water.
* 25% of children below the age of 5 are underweight and 42% display stunted growth.
* Over 3% of adults in the age group 15-49 are infected with HIV/ AIDS4.
* In 1980, the poverty level in Nigerian households with a female head was 27%. The figure rose to 58% by 20015.
The scariest undertone of Nigeria's socio-economic underachievement, by far, is the steady rise in youth crime, nurtured in a climate of increasing national income and the simultaneous failure of employment-generation and poverty alleviation programmes. Armed insurgencies ravaging the oil-rich and volatile Niger Delta region are now competing for space in international headlines with a proliferation of Islamic terrorist offshoots. The season of discontent has especial ramifications for a nation with unemployed millions, and the net effect has been a tragic precipitation of violent crimes: assault, burglary, extortion and kidnapping. Further, decades of social and political turmoil helped turn this strategically located African nation into an established junction for international drug smugglers. Other highlights of Nigeria's prolific crime syndicates are economic fraud - usually in the form of innovative Internet schemes; money laundering and racketeering.
The human impact of this burgeoning criminal activity has been severe. In the country's economic capital Lagos, for instance, 273 civilians and 84 policemen were killed in separate criminal encounters between August 2000 and May 2001. Recent figures are even more disturbing: In 2008 alone, Niger Delta violence claimed 1,000 lives and accounted for 300 abductions, including those of 44 foreign workers.
Providing opportunities
What holds true for Nigeria and most other nations of equivalent human development indicators is the fact that crime is often a means of survival. The idea is corroborated by the preponderance of property offenses across Nigeria - burglary, robbery, fraud etc. So much so that shriveling opportunities for sustainable employment and the resulting surge in crime are two of the biggest hurdles in the way of accelerated economic development. The key challenge for Nigeria's new regime, in the context of its long-term growth prospects, remains the mobilisation of its substantive youth population to lead an entrepreneurial revolution. It is of critical economic as well as social importance on which rests the country's ambitions for sustainable and inclusive growth. The bewildering array of problems hindering the country's successful evolution from third-word stature calls for creative solutions based on a holistic outlook. The following aspects are crucial to any worthwhile government effort aimed at reducing youth crime as part of economic development policy:
* Preserving political stability and effectiveness of democratic institutions to effectively pursue youth and employment revival programmes.
* Improving human development indices, especially per capita income and standard of living, through perseverance policy redirection.
* Enforcing creative poverty alleviation schemes that promote rapid enterprise development in both urban and rural areas.
* Extensively revamping the education system to coincide with local imperatives, especially with regards to vocational training and skill development.
* Fighting institutional corruption and bureaucratic decadence in government agencies for effective policy implementation.
* Rehabilitating criminal elements by equipping them with practical skills and returning them to mainstream activities.
The impediments to entrepreneurial development in Nigeria come primarily in the form of deficient physical infrastructure, poor access to finance and investment and obsolete policy guidelines. The Word Bank recommended as recently as March this year that Abuja liberalise its trade policies as import bans, like one on textile for instance, have only resulted in increased smuggling. The aid agency further suggested the enforcement of a national skills development programme and sharper focus on lifting institutional constraints in high employment businesses in both the formal and informal sectors.
The problem of youth crime in Nigeria is inextricably linked to the state of its economy. High growth figures alone have more than sufficiently proved unequal to tackling inherent imbalances plaguing this nation of untold potential and chronic underachievement. The coming-of-age of Nigeria's economy rests primarily on its ability to harness its substantial youth population and leverage its economic potential for durable, long-term growth.
Peter Osalor is a multi-skilled director, chairman of trusts, proprietor and consultant. Peter Osalor has been a successful entrepreneur since 1992 when he formed Peter Osalor & Co and which has since grown to a very large client base with a turnover of millions. He is currently a fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Nigeria (ICAN). Peter is also a member of the Chartered Tax Advisors and the Chartered Institute of Taxation in Nigeria (CITN).
He is a business mentor for Princess Trust in the UK. He is a member of the Inter Governmental Committee of ICAN and also a member of BCBC, which represents Black Church Membership of Christians whose responsibility is to ensure that the Christian businesses are not left out in the business opportunities arising from the 2012 Olympic Games In London.
Currently he is one of the professionals behind the Entrepreneur Revolution and Africa Entrepreneurs ( http://theafricanentrepreneurs.com/). His T V program called success in your business ( http://www.successinyourbusiness.com) has become a massive hit in Nigeria.
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com
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