THAT efforts by the Muhammadu Buhari administration to tackle unemployment have not yielded much fruits was signposted by the report that over 1.4 million job seekers have applied to fill a mere 5,000 vacancies in the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC). NSCDC had on August 9 opened its online portal (www.cdfipb.careers) for interested candidates to file in their applications. The corps spokesman, Emmanuel Okeh, who confirmed the large turnout rightly attributed the development to the high unemployment level in the country. This is not just starting, though. In November 2016, the federal tax agency received 700,000 applications for 500 advertised positions. In May 2016, about a million people applied for 10,000 positions in the Nigerian Police Force. Lest we forget, about 16 persons were killed in April 2014 stampedes when a half-million people were invited to apply for fewer than 5,000 government jobs.
The latest report of vacancies in the civil defence merely confirms statistics by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) of the worsening unemployment situation. It shows that government’s efforts have not made much of dent on unemployment as demand for jobs continues to outstrip supply.
Yet, the fact that the slots have been advertised does not necessarily mean that the jobs will go to the best candidates. As a matter of fact, many of those who applied may not go far, not necessarily because they are not qualified but because their colleagues who know somebody that knows somebody that is connected to the top would have secured the jobs while the corps might have merely advertised the vacancies to fulfill all righteousness. Of course, like most such advertisements, there are rules guiding the conduct of such recruitments. These include those beyond the age limits, those who engaged in multiple registration as well as candidates with inconsistent academic qualifications, who would all be weeded out before the actual test commences. The impression that the jobs are competitive might therefore be a facade.
We saw that success in such exercises may not necessarily be merit-based in the secret recruitment done by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) where some 100 job slots were reserved for our senators. The matter blew open not because of the immorality of the allotment of the slots but because some senators were left out. As a matter of fact, those senators accused their principal officers of allocating the slots only to themselves. The sad part of it is that should there be a crisis, like the April 2014 incident cited above, these privileged candidates are not likely to be affected. As a matter of fact, they would only call their benefactors on phone to report on the situation of things and they would be properly advised to stay safe and keep themselves away from harm’s way. Anyone who knew any of the applicants who came from the top and died in the job stampede should tell me. It bears restating that the stampede itself was the result of the fears that the jobs would not go round. People who have too many kids than they can cater for will testify that they always have cause to settle quarrels when the children are served rations that cannot go round them.
When we realise the social implications of such a huge unemployment rate, we would realise that the country is sitting on a keg of gunpowder. The activities of Boko Haram, kidnappers, armed robbers, cultists and ritualists of all shades are harbingers of the imminent danger awaiting us as a nation if our governments do not tackle unemployment with all the seriousness it deserves.
The Federal Government has to redouble its efforts in job-creation. Trader money and similar initiatives by the government are good as stop-gap measures; they cannot end poverty. Even some of the so-called jobs created by some state governments cannot put an end to want.
Provision of stable and reliable electricity is very vital to job creation. The truth is, many people, including even artisans cannot work because of epileptic power supply. Industries and other manufacturing concerns too are affected by the poor power supply. As a matter of fact, there are companies that run on generators once they begin production because they do not want losses that may occasion power failure in the process. We must give kudos to the government for efforts to improve power supply, but it has to do more because not much can be achieved with regard to job creation, without power supply. At least efforts are being intensified to ensure that electricity consumers pay only for the power they consume. This is about the first time in decades that this is happening. There are also efforts geared toward rejuvenating the transmission and distribution aspects of the power sector to ensure that power that is produced gets to the consumer with minimal losses. Before now, efforts had been concentrated on generation alone. It is good that government has realised that without an overhaul and upgrading of the transmission and distribution lines, efforts at generation will only come to naught.
But, the civil defence is not an organisation to joke with. In a country where the ratio of persons per policeman falls far short of acceptable requirement, the civil defence has filled some gap and the corps is trying its best. The officers and men may not be perfect, at least they are complementing the efforts of the police. So, we need people who fit the bill concerning their suitability for the job and not necessarily people who are well connected. I hear federal character principle would be applied. Since this appears a part and parcel of our lives already, it can be tolerated. But, to now add the factor of slots allocated to lawmakers or other prominent Nigerians that will only forward names of their own people irrespective of whether they are fit for the job or not will only worsen matters. Merit should be the watchword. This may be a tall order though because even police recruitment, important as it is, has become politicised, with the quarrel between the Police Service Commission and the Nigeria Police Force itself. Regrettably, President Buhari has not been able to put his foot down to insist on what is right.
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