Youths have often cited that the desire to get a well-paying job is a major reason for attending higher institution. However, getting such jobs after graduation into any organization is not an easy task. With the dramatic expansion of higher education in recent decades, and with over 200,000 graduates of various disciplines who are discharged annually from the mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), the labour market has become more competitive than ever. Statistics indicate that less than ten percent of these graduates are actually employed. While a good number of them engage themselves in a waiting game, expecting that luck will one day smile at them, others get involved in one form of menial job or the other to keep body and soul together.
Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and the seventh most populous country in the world, with an estimated 206 million inhabitants as of late 2019 -Wikipedia. Nigeria has the third-largest youth population in the world, after India and China, with more than 90 million of its population under the age of eighteen –Wikipedia.
Unemployment in Nigeria looms large and its consequences are huge, especially as youths are the worst hit. While the consequences of massive youth unemployment may be detrimental, youths can be part of the solution, rather than the problem. Youths can be motivated to play a role in their own development as well as the development of their communities. There is need to promote the role of youths as agents of positive change, and be treated as assets, rather than liabilities. Youths have what it takes - the ideas, energy and creativity to transform their communities and the nation – but only if they are given the opportunities to do so.
Former President of America, Barack Obama suggests that youths should see themselves as entrepreneurs, inventors, and organizers. He adds that youths should be willing to solve important public problems in creative and meaningful ways, adding that they “must imbibe the values of imagination and fearlessness in bringing bold ideas to bear on the most pressing problems we face, by creating a stronger and more sustainable solutions”.
Therefore, providing training and education on social entrepreneurship and civic innovation will help to address youth/graduate unemployment in the country. With the numerous social challenges facing the nation, the field presents vast career opportunities for creative men and women with fresh ideas for addressing these social problems. However, the sector has remained largely unexplored in job creation, particularly for the teeming youth population? Currently, there is lack of social entrepreneurship and civic innovation training and Education in the country.
