By Frank Tietie
Is there a specific policy of the Federal government to address the growing ‘army’ of young unemployed Nigerians, especially in Northern Nigeria? Who really thinks about these people?
In recent times, public service has been redefined in practice as a means of sharing resources with individuals through formal government employment, allowing them to do minimal and nominal work in exchange for security of employment and commensurate salaries. One senior government official recently described it as a Nigerian-style social security system.
Mindful of Dr Goke Adegoroye’s distinction between the ‘public service’ and ‘civil service’, wherein he clearly defined the public service of a country to include: the civil service, parastatals and agencies (which includes the bureaucracy), the public service is the collective of all persons employed by a country whether at Federal, State or Local Government levels to carry on government services for the benefit of the people. It includes school teachers, the armed forces, police, etc.
Therefore, employment in public service is reserved for the best and brightest minds who possess a responsible leadership mindset to achieve long-term developmental plans for a country. That was indeed the philosophy of the Nigerian Federation at the outset of its independence from colonial rule until the principles of quota system and federal character legitimised mediocrity and nepotism to the present point where most public servants are only concerned about the security of their employments and the benefits they can muster or manipulate from the system without considering their concomitant responsibility of providing actual public service which is a euphemism for corruption.
It becomes a calamitous situation for a country like Nigeria when its political leaders care mostly or only about grabbing and retaining political power and control through elections or “selections” while its public service is engrossed in ingratiating itself with the opportunities and benefits of being employed by the government.
Could it then be true that the reason for the unending war against insurgency and other forms of insecurity is that it is beneficial to some public servants?
With such preoccupation about self interest in the public service, is it difficult to wonder why a large section of the population made up of young people is neglected without meaningful positive engagement or employment? That is playing with fire in a country where palpable ethno-religious divisions can be exploited for political violence.
The Nigerian government must, therefore, be extremely concerned with how to engage its massive youth population. It must urgently consider the implications of either engaging the youth to produce food (“Agbado”), as President Tinubu mooted during his presidential campaigns, or drafting them to fight insecurity.
A stroll in the vicinity of Abuja or its suburbs at any time of the day will reveal the problem of jobless youths who need meaningful engagement. While Northern Nigeria is hit hard by this crisis of youth unemployment, in Southern Nigeria, youth are turning in droves to “Yahoo Yahoo” scams, with Hustle Kingdoms (Scam Training Schools) numbering thousands spread across the entire region.
Somebody in government must be thinking about this problem or else….
Frank Tietie
Nigerian Lawyer & Media Personality writes from Abuja.