CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

Poverty and unemployment issues have been the subject of discussions for many centuries. Often poverty is described as the enemy of mankind and it is thought to be the gross violation of our civilization (Kazi and Leonard, 2012). The history of mankind demonstrates that poverty is nothing but a curse, not only for the individual who is poor, but for remainder of the community, nation and global society at large. It compels people to think that famine, misery and deprivation are natural course of life; and that the poor people are not entitled for living better lives. Poverty and unemployment; an identical bane is a global trend which affects people in various depths and levels at different times and phases of existence. The extent of association between poverty and unemployment in developing countries is often a subject of considerable debate. There is actually no nation that is absolutely free from poverty and unemployment. The major difference is the degree and pervasiveness of this similar blight.

Unemployment and poverty are so intertwine that one can easily confuse one for the other. Although, it is possible for one to be employed and still poor, this is likely to be a case of underemployment. Thus, by unemployment, it includes those underemployed. Unemployment and underemployment reflect the failure to make use of an important factor of production, labour, for fostering economic growth in Nigeria. Low returns to labour as well as high unemployment indicates poverty. Poverty makes it difficult to make investments in education and health that would increase a person‘s productivity. This is not only true for individuals; families equally face an inter-generational poverty trap. Families face the choice between sending their children and young family members to school and sending them to earn much-needed income. The social aspects of the problem lie in the association of unemployment with social exclusion and a sense of hopelessness. Structural unemployment and widespread poverty are believed to be the basis for the activities of miscreants such as militant youth in the Niger Delta and the present deadly Boko Haram ravaging the north eastern Nigeria and upsetting the seemingly peaceful and stable political situation. The activity of Boko Haram has resulted in many deaths and destruction of property and unemployment worth millions of dollars.

Unemployment is often referred to as a measure of those who are actively seeking for job but cannot find any which matches their qualification. It is defined as the condition of having no job or being out of work; the proportion of people who are able to work and actively searching for one but are unable to find it (Rafiq et al, 2010). According to IMF (1998), “Unemployment is measured annually as percentage of Labour Force that can’t find a job. It is described by International Labour Organisation (2001) as a situation of being out of work or need a job and continuously searching for it in the last four weeks or unemployed (age 16 or above) but available to join work in the next two weeks.