PROMOTING THE DIGNITY OF SKILLED LABOR AMONGST THE YOUTH IN NIGERIA

 

US Lost over 60 million jobs due to the effects of COVID-19 . The year 2020 saw a drastic shift from the normal with the advent of the novel Coronavirus Infectious Disease, otherwise known as COVID-19. Forbes reports that 60 million jobs were lost in the United States and the Nigerian Ministry of Labor and Employment saw an unemployment rate rise from 27.1% in second quarter of 2020 to 33.3% by the end of 2020. 

News like this aren’t isolated in particular countries. The pandemic saw the loss of several jobs but what is interesting is the kind of jobs that were lost. The US Bureau of Labor and Statistics released data showing that majority of people hit hard by unemployment were low-skilled workers. 

With customers staying indoors for the better part of 2020, more than a million of those working leisure and hospitality jobs like waiters and bar tenders in the US were forced out of the job. Not to mention travel and transportation industry which reported losses of more than 300 billion US dollars as a result of fewer travels, a repercussion of lockdowns and bans on international travels.

Before we proceed, let’s talk a bit about what skilled labor really is. Skilled labor refers to any form of labor that requires advanced knowledge, training and experience in the particular domain. It usually requires a form of higher education and expertise gained from the training and experience. Laborers of this sort more often command higher income. On the other hand, low-skilled or unskilled labor requires little to no training or prior experience and a lower educational achievement such as a secondary school certificate. Such laborers command smaller wages.

A pandemic may be an extreme example but it does serve as a wake-up call in many instances.

 Prior to the pandemic, many industries have invested heavily in much research and development to replace low-skilled labor and the inefficiencies that come with laborers operating these jobs.

 In the auto industry, automation has reduced production times from the initial one car per 12 hours with manual labor, to over 100 cars per day with automation. Manufacturing is not the only sector that has embraced automation. 

Automation is beginning to enter deeper into our everyday lives. In the same auto industry, comes such as Tesla, Ford and General Motors have invested enormous sums in building autonomous vehicle technology. This technology could affect the number of paid drivers and chauffeurs in the job market. Not to mention those low-skilled laborers that would be laid-off while the companies recoup their losses. This trend repeats itself in many other industries. Even sex-workers are at risk with the development and distribution of many automated self-pleasure devices.

The need for skilled-labor is more now than it has ever been. However, many cases build up against this fact in developing regions such as Nigeria and Africa in general. A singular focus on tangible export, poor educational system, corruption, poor incentives for successful skilled workers accompanied with many other cultural and religious factors serve to belittle the importance of skilled labor in Nigeria. Tagged as ‘white collar’ jobs, a general stereotype has emerged which dictates that those who pursue these jobs remain unemployed. This stereotype holds water in many cases because the demand for certain skilled labor seem to be non-existent in the country and in some other cases, non-existent globally. 

Majority of Sub-Saharan Africa was created during the Berlin Conference, 1884-1885 solely for the exports of their natural resources. This trend still follows as is seen by the focus of many governments in the region. Instead of focusing on building a stable economy for its citizens, many African countries focus more on what they can export to make money regardless of how they make the money.

 Oil is a major export in Nigeria, however contracts are given to foreign organizations for its mining and subsequent refinement. Even the once globally revered textile manufacturing industry, has been reduced to a shell of its former glory due to gains to be made by the import of Chinese textile and leather products. 

A lack of focus by the government to solve keen technical and sociocultural problems reduces the demand for such skilled labor and ultimately the desire for its citizens to take up those roles. Such problems are left to private institutions to solve without much support from the government and leeway in its policies. Private institutions are profit-centered and cannot absorb much shock from its underlying economic environment. Novel situations like the COVID-19 pandemic could crumple such institutions, adding to the already poor regard for skilled labor.

Given the sad economic state of the country, fast-paced money-making ordeals have become a norm and to be expected. Many graduates in the country have deviated from the path to expertise in their chosen fields and chosen to follow along with low-skilled jobs or criminal paths to quick wealth. The Nigerian government is also fueling this occurrence by promoting entrepreneurship amongst its graduates. Graduates with first class honors in Electrical Engineering are now being encouraged to sell bags for a living. Would there be a time where youths would lose their desire to solve the country’s problems and just sell goods for a living?

In order to promote the dignity of skilled labor amongst youth, we must first find use for such labor in the economy. Nigeria and Africa in general, are far behind the rest of the world in terms of technology and societal advancements.

 The Nigerian government needs to diversify its focus and move to solve technical and sociocultural problems in the country. That alone would give those in the sciences some purpose for their field instead of venturing into other fields or find fulfilment in other economies that have need for their skills. 

After establishing a need for skilled labor, the government can begin to place incentives to encourage more people to venture into particular fields that would be required in the near future. Going down to the institutional levels, students should be carried along with contracts and research work as well as other programmes and seminars. However, before this second phase can be fully realized, the government must repair the damaged educational system that is run in here in Nigeria.

Skilled labor is fast becoming a need in society due the rise of automation and the devastating effects of other unforeseen events such as a pandemic or an economic meltdown.

 A lot can be done to improve the dignity of skilled labor in Nigeria.

 Not all skilled labor can be accounted for at the same time, however, with a will to solve technical and sociocultural problems in the country along with careful consideration and planning by the government, skilled labor can once again thrive in our economy, bettering the lives of several hundred thousand graduates in the society.

Dikamsi Young Udochi

OS/21A/0451

Computer Engineering