Youth Unemployment and Violent Crime in the Niger Delta Region: Policy Implications and Prospects for Sustainable Development

Abstract

This study investigates youth unemployment and violent crime in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria. Unemployed youths in the region have not only been neglected and left unattended to but have been faced with high rate of unemployment and violent crime. The youth population of any nation represents the driving force for development in such a nation. They are also the most volatile when their energies are misdirected to wrong endeavours. Available data show that youth unemployment is rampant in the Niger Delta Region and this has contributed immensely to their involvement in violent crimes such as armed robbery, kidnapping, political thuggery, military and other social vices. The paper concludes that increasing rural-urban migration, poorly designed school curricula, proliferation of educational institutions, population growth and the declining manufacturing sector are some of the causes of youth unemployment in Nigeria. Violent crimes found among the unemployed and jobless youths have contributed greatly to slowing down the prospects for sustainable development of the Niger Delta Region. The paper recommends among others that government economic and educational policies should be reviewed to reflect the incorporation of entrepreneurship and skills acquisition in the curricula of secondary and tertiary institutions in Nigeria as a way of addressing youth unemployment and violent crime.

Keywords

References