A Sociological Analysis of the Impact of Unemployment on Criminality in Abuja Municipal Area Council
Chapter One
Objectives of the study
General Objective
The main objective of the study is to empirically investigate the impact of unemployment on criminal activity.
Specific Objectives
Specifically, the research study seeks:
- To examine the correlation between youth unemployment and criminal activity in Abuja Municipal Area Council of Abuja in Nigeria;
- To find out if there is an employment policy for youth in Nigeria;
- To contribute to future youth employment opportunites
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Theoretical Framework
Economic Theory of Criminal Behavior
One of the theoretical models that can carefully explain the premise of youth unemployment and criminal activity in Nigeria is the Economic theory of criminal behavior by Gary Becker (1968), Ehrlich (1996) and Freeman (1983). The theory contends that the tendency to commit crimes in countries like Nigeria depends on the comparison of the expected costs and benefits of legal and illegal activities (Becker 1968; Ehrlich1996). Becker argues that unemployed people are deprived of legal income resources (except for unemployment benefits), and, thus, are more likely to derive income from illegal activities. Similarly, Freeman (1983) argues that criminals are normally driven by economic motives hence economic crime, this is manifested in offenses in which individuals or a group of people act in an illegal way to gain financial returns such as robbery, drug selling, burglary, theft etc.
However, not all crimes are driven by financial returns. According to Becker crimes such as ethnic violence, hatred, revenge, and thrill have multiple motives and economic gain may be a secondary goal. Besides, offenders themselves are not always conscious of their motives and they may be unable to distinguish between the reasons that precipitated their actions and the rationalization that follows them.
In the context of Nigeria, the growing economic and lifestyle gap between the ordinary citizens and the political elite is detrimental to many particularly young people who are challenged by lack of basic services, underdevelopment, lack of education, and high unemployment rate. This economic gap has resulted in increased xenophobia against foreign migrant workers as well as Nigerians youth from the Diaspora who are seen by local youth as having stolen their jobs and living better lives. In other states with strong pastoral communities and cattle-based economies such as Jonglei, Unity, Warrap, Lakes, and Upper Nile; increase in dowry for marriage has often culminated into incidents of cattle raids, displacement and death of thousands of people by groups of frustrated youth.
Furthermore, the unemployed and destitute youth have been mobilized and often end up as primary recruits for rebel groups and militias, spearheaded by prominent politicians and leaders. The young are a formidable force for the government as well as rebel groups. In 2013 intra-governmental armed conflict, both parties to the conflict recruited young males to fight their battles because youth provide cheap and reliable labor.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Design
The research used the survey research design; a simple technique in collecting data from large groups of people on a large scale. Moreover it is the most common research design and information gathering method used in social science. The research used self-administered questionnaires as data collection instruments. According to Gray (2004), questionnaires are free from biasness of the interviewer and they give the respondents adequate time and space to indicate well thought answers.
The questionnaires used in the research consisted of three types of questions. First are the closed ended questions with many alternative answers from which a respondent can select an answer. Secondly are questions based on respondents’ opinions or attitudes, these questions are represented in a Likert scale with attitude statements ranging from agree, strongly agree, disagree, strongly disagree to don’t know. The final type of questions is open ended; these are usually placed at the end of the questionnaire as an adjunct to the main theme of the research study, these questions allow the respondent to elaborate upon an earlier more specific question providing additional information to the researcher.
Study Sample Size
Kothari (2004) defines a sample size as the number of items to be selected from a population to constitute a sample. Sample size should be optimum, meaning that it should exhibit the following characteristics; efficiency, representation, reliability and flexibility. The research surveyed 100 people from Abuja Municipal Area Council including; 10 police officers and 90 FCT residents of mixed ages, occupations and educational qualifications. There were also key informants interviewed including FCT chief, elders and FCT administrators.
CHAPTER FOUR
RESEARCH FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS OF YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT AND CRIMINAL ACTIVITY IN ABUJA MUNICIPAL AREA COUNCIL
Age of the respondents
CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
In analyzing the research findings and previously published literature on youth unemployment and criminal activity, it is noticeable that although there is a considerable link between youth unemployment and criminal activity in FCT, the trend indicates a long and enduring problem in respect to national security. Nevertheless, both youth that are employed or unemployed can perpetrate or be influenced to perpetrate violence that can threaten national security. Therefore, it is not exclusively unemployment that project youth violence as having a direct connection to national security, but it is in other factors such as education, wealth, poverty, bad parenting, bad governance, corruption, religion, ethnicity, geographical groups, political groups that can affect youth attitude and acceptance of violence and crime.
According to the United Nations Economic, Social and Cultural Organization (UNESCO, 2012), education is the right type of conflict prevention strategy to any society. The Organization advocates for the right type of education with good educational curriculum such as education of citizens on citizenry and tutorial. This is why most countries educate citizens on citizenry and aspects of the nation’s history. On the other hand, bad education or the lack of it can cause conflict. The Organization argues that criminal activity is fostered when there is lack of education, poor educational curriculum or a twisted educational system. Thus during times of conflict, the young ones are less likely to be in school, child mortality rate is high and youth are less likely to be literate thus increasing their chances of engaging in violence. What is important for Nigeria is to reflect on the country’s long history of slavery and oppression by the Sudan government.
The lessons learnt from such cycle of criminal activity should be used wisely to seek peace and security in the country in order to ensure that there is no repeat of the jeopardy.
First and foremost, the Government of Nigeria and other relevant bodies need to act and incorporate programs that will create an enabling environment to support the youth in their transformation from educational system into the labor market. Moreover, the energy, skills and inspiration of young people are valuable access to employment and pre-conditions for poverty eradication, sustainable development and lasting peace.
According to the African Development Bank chief economist Prof Ncube, ‘it has become clear that there are no quick fixes to ensuring that all Africa’s young people get off to a good start. Stronger job creation mechanisms grounded in a deliberate strategy for inclusive growth and social development is needed’. Ncube argues that addressing youth unemployment in Africa requires an integrated holistic approach because shortcuts will not work. There is also the World Bank 2008 Report that advocates for a comprehensive model that supports rural development, rural-urban migration, preparation of young people for the labor market and investments in agriculture. Nigeria can refer to such ideas and policies to enhance youth participation in its labor market in order to reduce on rampant unemployment and the associated criminal activity.
Ncube also argues that the aim of every government in Africa should be to create an enabling environment to promote investments. This includes provision of power, maintaining law and order, and adequate security. The justice system must also be able to facilitate strong contracts and protect mutual trust. Regional organizations such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the East African Community (EAC) must ensure that policy for economic integration is not just on paper but clearly implemented in real terms, across the borders. Minimum standards should be set for products that will cross borders. Free movement of people and goods should be allowed, within the limits of regional and international trade treaties. Foreign investment is crucial in Nigeria, as a nation that emerged from many decades of civil war, the country is in need of investment that will help its economy to prosper and grow. Furthermore, such investments will create more job opportunities for the youth who are overwhelmed by the high unemployment level in the country. However, for investment to be successful, the government needs to ensure peace and security so that investors will not think of investing their capital elsewhere.
Furthermore, it is essential that the Education curriculum in Nigeria be immediately revised to incorporate skills and enterprise development. A special program should be designed for low-skilled youth in vocational centers and incentives should also be provided to SMEs that promote student internships. As supported by Ncube, the current state of youth unemployment in Africa requires shared responsibilities. It will take the ‘Power of We’ to solve it. Businesses will thrive in a safe and secure society. Government and foreign investors can implement developmental programs only in an atmosphere of peace of security. It is therefore incumbent on government to work closely with the private sector to promote internships, graduate trainee programmes, and community-based projects that create jobs for young people. Social Entrepreneurship is a viable tool that can create jobs for many young people.
On the other hand, agriculture is a viable source of investment for young people if it is made attractive. There should be a swift transition from subsistence to commercialized farming. Farm and non-farm activities should be better packaged to make them really attractive. There should also be adequate investment in rural education. This will boost rural opportunities and reduce rural-urban migration and its concomitant challenges. Nigeria’s agricultural sector is promising yet it lacks the necessary gear to boost its systems. Therefore, the government needs to encourage more investments and programmes in this sector in order to create more jobs and opportunities for the youth.
On the other hand, the concept of the youth bulge in Africa may be a merit in itself according to Ncube. He argues that the demographic transition is an opportunity for Africa to compete internationally. However, the main challenge is to employ the appropriate policies for the region to benefit from this unique opportunity’. He believed that individuals, organizations and governments in Africa will make appropriate decisions to maximize this opportunity. Ideal is the African Union Organization (A.U), the organization’s members encouraged more youth to enter into labor markets in order to enhance stability and cut-down on crimes. The Organization further created several youth-focused goals: to reduce youth unemployment by 2% per year from 2009 to 2018; to intricate a Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) framework; and to provide adequate funding to advance the Youth Agenda in Africa. The TVET is specifically helpful for African policymakers to establish what skills the youth need to gain employment, become better entrepreneurs and successful individuals.
In general Terms, African nations like Nigeria must determine at the country level the sectors with growth potential and develop youth skills that will serve labor demand. For example in Kenya, the Government Vision 2030 has identified sectors to focus on as a medium term economic growth strategy. For example, Information Technology (IT) enabled services are expected to provide 20,000 jobs. In order to fill these positions, Kenya designed a city at Konza to serve as an incubator for investment in IT enabled services. According to the Kenyan Vision 2030 website, the incubator site has been acquired and the feasibility study-master plan is complete. The incubator features a parallel plan to provide centers of specialization for education in IT enabled services. While the success of Kenya’s ambitious plan is yet to be realized, the concept is correct; policymakers need to determine sectors with potential for job growth and simultaneously develop the needed skills in the youth population.
In addition to training, the African governments should play a role in creating an enabling environment for youth to participate more in the labor market. African policymakers should focus more critically on creating favorable conditions in non-wage sectors by developing value chains in agriculture and expanding opportunities for self-employment. Very little attention is paid to the agro-allied sub-sector—those activities that transform farm outputs into final products. The agro-allied sector has great potential for youth employment because formal skill requirements are typically low at the beginning, which allows youth to learn by gradually moving from simple tasks to more sophisticated production. In line with improving conditions for entrepreneurs, policymakers need to provide incentives for financial institutions to innovatively find ways to deliver both financial and social capital to self-employed youth. The main setback for banks that would lend to youth has been lack of information. African governments can begin tackling this problem by expediting national identification and registration systems that can support the development of consumer and credit information systems. The information made available to lenders would facilitate the growth of credit and entrepreneurship among young people.
Furthermore, African nations should determine if any institutional barriers are preventing youth from participating in the economy. For example, youth in Ethiopia face restricted access to land due to customary land rights, which makes it difficult for them to succeed in the agriculture sector. Sub-Saharan countries also vary widely on land and property ownership for women, laws often exclude females as major economic players and restrict their access to collateral and farm land. Although institutions are slow to change, governments can play a vital role in opening political space that will allow females to participate equally in the economy without any form of discrimination. (OECD, 2011).
Another strategy is the promotion of education from grass root levels, and the need to introduce and encourage vocational and technical education at all levels of education in the country. This will help reduce youth unemployment since it is skills-oriented and employment motivated. Similarly, entrepreneurship should be incorporated into education curricular at all levels starting from secondary schools to higher level institutions. This will help prepare youth to becoming more of job creators than job seekers and hence from social dependence to self- sufficient.
School-to-work transition skills should be introduced into the circular of senior secondary schools and tertiary institutions in the country. Specifically, for the final year students who are about to enter competitive labor market. The training should create avenues for providing experience with a view to promoting and developing desirable work ethnics and culture for national development. Youth should be trained to possess skills that are congruent with real labour market demands.
Community policing and sensitization of community members on the laws governing the community is necessary. The need to create more community initiatives that can be run by and owned by the community is an important step in tackling the issue of criminal activity; the youth can be encouraged to spearhead such initiatives in order to be more responsibility and accountable for their own community security, this will likewise reduce their participation in violence and crime.
The Nigeria government should introduce programmes and policies on poverty reduction and unemployment through massive youth employment and women empowerment agenda. These programmes will help the youth become more involved in their issues and voice out plans and ideas that would help reduce if not completely eliminate the problems from the society.
Nigeria can also visit and learn from other countries such as Kenya on how to implement youth programmes such as the NYS (National Youth Service) a youth empowerment programme that focuses on helping the youth discover and develop their potential since 1964. If introduced, such a programme can be an opener to many young people in Nigeria; as they will be prepared and trained to become more productive and independent citizens.
In a similar study on youth unemployment and criminal activity in Nigeria, Adegoke (2013) makes a significant recommendation in addressing the issue of youth unemployment and national security that if incorporated in Nigeria can be useful. Since the two countries share similar experiences in terms of unemployed youth engaging in politically motivated violence and crimes. Adegoke suggests that there is need for more research on the attitudes of youth or unemployed people towards government’s policies and programmes of poverty and unemployment. This move will desensitize the unemployed of their aggression tendencies and hence change their perception of reality.
References
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- Adegoke, N. (2015). Youth unemployment and security challenges in Nigeria. Asian Journal of Humanities and Social Studies, 3(2), 1-10.
- African Economic Outlook. (2015). Youth unemployment. Retrieved from http://www.africaneconomicoutlook.org/en/theme/developing-technical-vocational skills-in-africa/tvsd-in-specific-contexts/youth-unemployment/.
- African Economic Outlook. (2012). Nigeria. Retrieved from http://www.youthpolicy.org/national/South_Sudan_2012_Youth_Unemployment_Briefin g.pdf.
- African Union. (2011). Decisions adopted during the 17th African Union Summit, 23 June–1 July, 2011, African Union: Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.
- African Economic Outlook, (2012). Retrieved from www.africaneconomicoutlook.org Alabi, T. and Alanana, O.O. (2012), Unemployment and poverty: The twin fertilizer for youth criminality. Global Journal of Social Sciences. 2 (2).
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