According report made available by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Tuesday over 50% of Nigerian youth were unemployed in 2012.
The official data was contained in the “2012 National Baseline Youth Survey Report’’ issued in Abuja by the NBS in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Youths Development. The data is the most current on Nigerian youth by the government statistics agency.
The federal government has put in place programmes such as YouWin, Sure-P and others to create employment for millions of unemployed Nigerians, particularly the youth; with the government announcing the programmes as successful.
The NBS report, however, said “More than half, about 54% of youth population were unemployed,” in 2012.
“Of this, females stood at 51.9% compared to their male counterpart with 48.1% were unemployed,’’ the report said.
It said out of 46,836 youth recorded against different types of crimes, 42,071, representing 75.5% were males, while the remaining 24.5% were females.
“Among the 32 different crimes committed, Marijuana (Indian hemp) smoking has the highest figure, representing 15.7%.
“This was followed by theft and murder with 8.1 and 7.4%, respectively. The least committed crime was Immigration/Emigration representing 0.04%.’’
The report said more than 5 million youths indicated they were involved in conflict resolution at one level of governance or the other.
“But the response of the youths shows that most of them are involved in conflict prevention at the community level representing 64.9%, while 30.9% are involved at the ward level.
“Only 1.6% are involved at the state level, while 83.9% males are involved in football than females with 16.1%.
“This is also obtainable in boxing, swimming, wrestling and tennis, however, a higher proportion of females, representing 81.1%, are involved in volley ball than males with 18.9%.
“In Hockey, 59.3% females and 40.7% males are involved, while 74% females and 26% males are involved in Track and Field events.’’
According to the survey, the population of youth aged between 15 and 35 years in Nigeria is estimated to be 64 million, while females are more than males in all age groups.
The report said Lagos State had the highest percentage of youths in Nigeria with 6.1 per cent, followed by Kano state representing 5.7 per cent, while Bayelsa State had the lowest with1.3 per cent.
“Out of the group of married youths, 68% were females, while 32% were males, the rate of divorce and widowhood was high among the female youths with 70.9% and 71.8%, respectively while 38.5% females were never married.’’
