Unemployment and Underemployment in Nigeria: Implications for the Rural Development

This chapter analyzed the problems of unemployment and underemployment as conventionally defined in Nigeria. Unemployment, underemployment, and the quality of work are national occupational health risk factors that drive critical national problems. It is highlighted that the issues had persisted and that the measures put in place throughout the years by various governments to address the issues had only had minimal success. The issues of unemployment and underemployment do exist, even at levels that are considerable and expanding, despite data from government polls showing figures that depict the country as having no such problems. Seasonal unemployment is that which results from seasonal fluctuations in economic activities. The latte r may take the form of vagaries in the production of, and/or variations in the demand for, goods and services. Also, unemployment rates among those with secondary education and above were higher in the urban than in the rural areas, but the rates for those with no schooling or with primary education only were higher in the rural areas. The efficiency wage theory, The insider-outsider theory, The search theory, The contract theory and The bargaining theory formed the theoretical framework for the topic. Descriptive data were presented and critically assessed. The paper, therefore, fingered both supply and demand factors in explaining the problems. It reviewed past efforts at redressing them and suggested ways of sustaining existing programs, and drawn attention to the need to revive those that had gone moribund. Recommendations included minimizing the problem of rural-urban migration, locating industrial enterprises in rural areas, boosting agricultural/rural development through modernization and vocational training of the rural folks.