Journal of Economics and Management Volume 19, No. 2 September, 2023

Graduate Unemployment in Nigeria: An Interrogation into the Survival Strategies of Lagos Youths

Temitope J. Owolabi

Department of Sociology, University of Lagos, Nigeria

Oluyemi T. Adeosun

Department of Economics, University of Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract

Unemployment in Nigeria has attracted a lot of attention because statistics show that the economically active ages (15–64 years), which represent 115.5 million of its population, are unemployed. This has been traced primarily to the decline in the manufacturing sector, resulting in over half of the 500,000 graduates that Nigeria produces annually continuing to look for jobs. To this end, this paper attempts to interrogate the survival strategies embraced by unemployed graduates in Lagos in order to cushion the effects of staying jobless. Using a mixed method (quantitative and qualitative methods), findings revealed that these unemployed graduates are involved in both legitimate and illegitimate means to survive; however, these illegitimate means are detrimental to the economic sustainability of Nigeria. The study therefore recommends that attention be paid to both the manufacturing and industrial sectors in order to bring back these misplaced jobs.

Keywords：Deindustrialization, Economically Active Age, Graduate Unemployment, Lagos Youths, Survival Strategies

JEL Classifications：J64

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