Niger Delta states record worst unemployment rate in 2018

The South Southern states of the country, otherwise known as “South-South” recorded the highest unemployment rate of 32 percent in the third quarter of 2018, according to the statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Friday.

According to the statistics, Rivers and Akwa Ibom, two of the richest states in the country recorded a whopping 36.4% and 37% respectively in the unemployment rate. Between them, there were about 3 million unemployed Nigerians.

Unemployment is one of the developmental indices, and with all the billions of revenue both from FAAC and 13 percent derivation going to the South-South zone, the Governors of this zone should do better.

For example, despite being the region where the nation’s crude is pumped most of the oil companies locate their headquarters outside of the regions due to insecurity and militant activities.

Apart from fostering insecurity, high unemployment rate also contributes severely to urban migration. Younger people in these regions will continue to flee for other parts of the country where they feel they can get jobs or even exit the country in general.

The situation in the South-South is a sharp contrast when compared to the South West region which recorded the lowest unemployment rate across the geopolitical zones in the country. The South West zone was reported as having an estimated workforce of 21.3 million persons. The number of unemployed persons stood at 2.9 million.

ALSO READ: Buhari’s handover deadline to ministers expires

States in the southwest perhaps by virtue of their proximity to the Nations former capital, Lagos State, have created an enabling environment for businesses to thrive.

Though most organisations complain of multiple taxations in the regions, industries prefer to start out in this region as it is relatively safe and attracts a higher purchasing power when compared to other zones. These states also have policies that directly target job creation.

Despite South-South woes, Nigeria’s unemployment rate is still very bad across all zones.