A Third of Nigerians Are Unemployed - Here's Why

In 2020, in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the country plunged into another recession - its worst in four decades. Measures like lockdowns, social distancing, working from home, and travel restriction's significantly affected the economy. The aviation sector and related services were one of the worst-hit. The entertainment sector - movies, sports, shows - was caught in the stay-home mandate. Small and medium scale industries were also badly hit, particularly micro-businesses - those who earn on a day-to-day basis. Even before the pandemic, the Nigerian environment, afflicted with insecurity, high cost of doing business, multiple taxations, and epileptic power supply, has been largely unattractive to investment, according to Ndubisi Nwokoma, a Professor of Economics at the University of Lagos.

The National Bureau of Statistics has recently reported that the number of unemployed people has increased to the highest in at least 13 years and is the second-highest rate in the world.