The Impact of Social Policies on Youth Unemployment in Nigeria.

References

[1] Adetunji, A., Price, C. and Sumberg, J., 2023. The challenge of youth unemployment in Nigeria. Journal of International and Comparative Social Policy, 39(2), pp.101–115

[2] Adesina J (2011) Beyond the social protection paradigm: Social policy in Africa’s development Canadian Journal of Development Studies/Revue canadienne d’études du développement 32 1–18

[3] Aiyede E, Sha P, Haruna B, Olutayo A, Ogunkola E and Best E (2015) The political economy of social protection policy uptake in Nigeria (Working Paper 002) Nairobi, Kenya Partnership for African Social and Governance Research

[4] Akande T (2014) Youth unemployment in Nigeria: A situation analysis September 23 2014 The Brookings Institution

[5] Akanle O and Uzieyi G (2023) Youth exclusion and violence as intervention: The EndSARS protest as metaphor in Nigeria Rural Observations 8(2) 30–39

[6] Akinleye O, Akinola O, Akinrimisi A, Shadare OA and Shadare GA (2019) What have we learnt from ten years of conditional cash transfers (CCT) programmes in Nigeria Evidence and lessons from two independent studies (CROP Poverty Brief No 52 )https://www.crop.org/viewfile.aspx?id=1613 (accessed 30 June 2025)

[7] Anyidoho NA, Kayuni H, Ndungu J, Leavy J, Sall M, Tadele G and Sumberg J (2012) Young people and policy narratives in Sub-Saharan Africa (Working Paper 032) Future Agricultures University of Sussex Brighton UK

[8] Ayinde JO, Olarewaju BE and Aribifo DL (2016) Perception of youths on government agricultural development programmes in Osun state Nigeria Scientific Papers Management Economic Engineering in Agriculture & Rural Development 16(3) 67–76

[9] Adebayo, A.A., 2019. Social intervention programmes and youth employment in Nigeria: An appraisal of N-Power. Journal of Social Policy and Administration, 53(4), pp.761–774.

[10] Adebisi, T.A., Ofem, B. and Adeyemo, S.A., 2018. Assessing accessibility to youth entrepreneurship support programmes in Nigeria. Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies, 10(2), pp.273–292.

[11] Akande, T., 2014. Youth unemployment in Nigeria: A situation analysis. Brookings Institution.

[12] Akinyemi, S. and Awosusi, O., 2020. State-level employment interventions in Nigeria: A study of EdoJobs and LSETF. Nigerian Journal of Development Studies, 12(1), pp.44–58.

[13] Arowoshegbe, A.O. and Emmanuel, U.O., 2016. Graduate internship scheme: A tool for combating unemployment in Nigeria. International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Review, 6(1), pp.120–126.

[14] Bailey B (2023) New job data suggests Nigeria is a ‘hustle economy’ Business Day Nigeria August 29th 2023https://businessday.ng/businesseconomy/article/new-job-data-suggests-nigeria-is-a-hustle-economy/ (accessed 30 October 2023)

[15] Bank of Industry (BOI), 2016. Youth Entrepreneurship Support Programme (YES-P): Programme Overview and Guidelines. Lagos: BOI Publications.

[16] BusinessDay, 2024. Youth unemployment in Nigeria: Trends, challenges and pathways to economic growth. BusinessDay, 5 May. Available at: https://businessday.ng/opinion/article/youth-unemployment-in-nigeria-trends-challenges-and-pathways-to-economic-growth/ (accessed 30 June 2025)

[17] Durham D (2000) Youth and the social imagination in Africa: Introduction to parts 1 and 2 Anthropological Quarterly 73(3) 113–120

[18] Egunjobi TA (2014) Poverty and unemployment paradox in Nigeria IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science (IOSR-JHSS) 19(5) 106–116

[19] Emeh, I.E.J. and Chukwuma, J.O., 2020. Government employment schemes and youth unemployment in Nigeria: The case of N-Power programme. Journal of African Studies and Development, 12(2), pp.18–25.

[20] Fox L, Senbet LW and Simbanegavi W (2016) Youth employment in sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges, constraints and opportunities Journal of African Economies 25(suppl_1) i3–i15

[21] Hamilton M (2017) The ‘new social contract’ and the individualisation of risk in policy (Abingdon UK and New York USA Taylor and Francis) pp 39-54.

[22] Ikeanyibe OM and Nzekwe IF (2019) Eligibility criteria for accessing social protection intervention programs in Nigeria Social Development Issues 41(3) 57–84

[23] IIARD, 2025. N-Power programme and unemployment reduction in Nigeria: An assessment. International Institute of Academic Research and Development, 7(1), pp.45–56.

[24] ILO, 2024. Labour market trends in Nigeria. Geneva: International Labour Organization.

[25] Lorenceau A, Rim JY and Savitki T (2021) Youth aspirations and the reality of jobs in Africa OECD Development Policy Papers March No 38

[26] National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), 2021. Labour force statistics: Unemployment and underemployment report (Q4 2020). Abuja: NBS.

[27] National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), 2023. Labour force statistics: Unemployment and underemployment report. Abuja: NBS.

[28] National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), 2024. Labour force survey Q2 2024. Abuja: NBS.

[29] Meagher K (2013) The jobs crisis behind Nigeria’s unrest Current History 112(754) 169

[30] Mueller V and Thurlow J (Eds) (2019) Youth and jobs in rural Africa: Beyond stylized facts Online Edn Oxford UK Oxford Academic https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198848059.001.0001 (accessed 30 June 2025)

[31] Ojo, J.A.T. and Fadeyibi, O.S., 2019. Assessing the graduate internship scheme in Nigeria: Outcomes and challenges. Nigerian Journal of Labour Economics, 6(1), pp.85–99.

[32] Okeke-Uzodike, O.E. and Chikere, I.C., 2022. Politics, governance, and the limitations of youth employment programmes in Nigeria. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 88(1), pp.89–105.

[33] Okoye, J.C. and Eze, N.R., 2021. The failure of youth employment policies in Nigeria: A systemic analysis. African Development Review, 33(2), pp.246–258.

[34] Oladeji, S.I. and Adebayo, A.A., 2019. Policy incoherence and youth employment crisis in Nigeria: Challenges and the way forward. African Journal of Economic Policy, 26(1), pp.53–69.

[35] Olawale, T. and Ibrahim, M., 2021. N-Power and the politics of youth employment in Nigeria. Journal of Social Policy Research, 8(3), pp.150–163.

[36] Omoligho, J.O., 2022. An evaluation of impact of N-Power programme among youth in Nigeria. International Journal of Multidisciplinary and Current Educational Research (IJMCER), 4(2), pp.172–175.

[37] Omoju, O.E. et al., 2023. Empirical review of youth‑employment policies in Nigeria. arXiv, 11 October.Available at: arxiv.org/abs/2310.07789?utm_

[38] Reuters, 2024. Nigeria’s Q3 jobless rate rises to 5% as impact of reforms takes effect. Reuters, 20 February. Available at: https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/nigerias-q3-jobless-rate-rises-5-impact-reforms-takes-effect-2024-02-20/ (Accessed: 1 July 2025).

[39] Samson, B., 2025. Evaluating the N-Power scheme as a youth empowerment tool for poverty reduction in Nigeria. Journal of Innovations, 3, pp.1–15. doi:10.62470/1c251531.

[40] Sumberg J, Fox L, Flynn J, Mader P and Oosterom M (2021) Africa’s “youth employment” crisis is actually a “missing jobs” crisis Development and Policy Review 39 621–643 https://doi.org/10.1111/dpr.12528

[41] SWP, 2023. Why we need to overcome youth unemployment in Nigeria. SWP Berlin, Discussion Paper, August.

[42] Virk, A., Nelson, Ediomo-Ubong. and Dele-Adedeji, I., 2023. The challenge of youth unemployment in Nigeria. Journal of International and Comparative Social Policy, 39(3), pp.319–329.

[43] World Bank, 2024. Nigeria employment and growth study. Washington, D.C.: World Bank Publications.

[44] World Bank, 2024. Nigeria youth unemployment rate (ages 15–24) [online]. MacroTrends. Available at: data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.UEM.1524.ZS (Accessed 1 July 2025)

[45] Yvonne E (2020) ‘We need to live’: Young Nigerians on why they are protesting Al Jazeera 14 October 2020https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2020/10/14/in-pictures-protests-in-nigeria-2 (accessed 30 June 2025)

@article{1709658,
      author = {Ayomikun Olugbode},
      title = {The Impact of Social Policies on Youth Unemployment in Nigeria.},
      journal = {Iconic Research And Engineering Journals},
      year = {2025},
      volume = {9},
      number = {1},
      pages = {812-822},
      issn = {2456-8880},
      url = {https://www.irejournals.com/formatedpaper/1709658.pdf},
      abstract = {Youth unemployment remains one of Nigeria's most tangible socio-economic challenges, despite the multiple government interventions and social policy initiatives. The present study critically examines the impacts of social policies on Nigerian youth unemployment, focusing on programs such as the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP), N-Power, and the Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria (YouWiN!). The research employs a qualitative approach, and secondary data from government reports, policy documents, and scholarly literature are employed to analyze the performance and limitations of such interventions. The results indicate that although these social policies have created short-run employment opportunities and skill development platforms, they have failed to contribute meaningfully towards the issue in the long run because of limitations like policy inconsistency, corruption, weak implementation strategies, and inadequate funding. Other structural problems in the economy, including educational outcome-labor market demand mismatches, further exacerbate the youth unemployment issue. The research also explores how regional inequality and socio-political instability affect the equitable distribution and functioning of these schemes. It concludes that social policies can adequately fight youth unemployment only if there is a shift toward long-term, sustainable economic planning, government transparency, and a close relationship between educational curricula and the demands of the market. The paper proposes greater inter-agency collaboration, uniform policy monitoring and assessment mechanisms, and increased investment in vocational and entrepreneurial training. Lastly, addressing youth unemployment in Nigeria will require more than isolated interventions; it requires an integrated and long-term policy commitment that addresses the structural forces of the Nigerian economy.},
      keywords = {Youth Unemployment, Social Policies, Nigeria, N-Power, NSIP, YouWiN!, Policy Implementation, Economic Planning, Labour Market},
      month = {July},
  }