HUMAN RESOURCES PLANNING INNIGERIA, THE ...

HUMAN RESOURCES PLANNING IN NIGERIA, THE NATIONAL l)IRECTORA TE OF EMPLOYMENT AND YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT. BY D r; Mrs. T.M. Fapohunda IRPM Department Lagos State University, Ojo This paper examines the impact of the N ational Open Apprenticeship S cherne of the National Directorate of Employment on Youth Unemployment in Lagos State. With a decline in the economic activities following the depression of the 1980's, unemployment problems assumed great dimensions in the country The worst hit were youths who had no skills and possessed low level of education. The government established the National Directorate of Employment in 1986 to fight unemployment and createjobs for the unemployed. This paper examines the extentto which the Directorate has succeeded in creatingjobs and alleviating unemployment in Lagos State through its National Open Apprenticeship Scheme. Introduction Nigeria is a country endowed with abundant natural and human resources with a landed area of923, 768 square kilometres, rich agricultural land and a population of about 120 million Nigeria has the potential to be a rich country, but despite all these ,. resources, it is a poor country. This per capital income of Nigeria dropped from $ -

,

1 ODO in 1985 to $ 275 in 1997. The country has a large unemployment rate. The

outpu t ofanation is determined by the abundance and quality of its human and natural resources and how these resources are combined in the production process. Human resources are the energies. skills, talents and knowledge of people which

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me or which potentially can be applied to the production of goods and the Iende~i: services. Harbison (1962) Obse, ,,,: that human resources not capital nor income nor materiflV resources constitute the ultimate basis for the wealth ofnatlo~. Thus, the wealth

of

anation can be expressed interms ofdevelopment and utilization of human energi~,;;

skills, and Knowledge for useful purposes. Of aII the resources an organization or nation requires, human resources are the most important. Consequently, while other factors of production are important, human resources are more crucial to production than any other factor. The products produced and the service rendered are for man '5 consumption The larger part of

ind ustrial development is got, not from more capital investment but from investment . in man and improvements brought about byimproved men In other words, innovation orthe precess of change, from static or traditional society, requires large dosesof strategic human resources, Human Resources Planning determines the director in which it is desired that

the

national economy or-an organization shall envolve and then takes steps to-ensure Ole proper distribution orredistribution of labour and also training the labour concemed

for such skills as are required. HurnanResources

Planning appliesfhe process of planning to the preparation"

and employment ofhuman resources for productive processes. One of the reasons for planning in developing countries is to increase the rate of economic development. _.i

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The genesis of Human Resources Planning in Nigeria is generally traced back to the Ashby Commission appointed bythe Nigerian Government in April 1959 to conduct

wlim:estigation into Nigeria's need in the field of'pos: school certltlcate andhi~~f· education-There arose the need toprovide skilledhumanresources for the expanding \

168

Dr: loin. T~U. Fopottunda

economy The worsening unemployment situation, and the shortageofhigh-lev el human resources, that is, the simultaneous occurrence of surplus of unskilled labo LI r and shortage of skilled labour, made resources planning a serious thing. The out put will increase with increase in the level of education.of'the labour force. In a situation where majority of tile labour force is either unskilled or uneducated

OT

either low level of education, national output will be low even ifthe country has alot of natural resources. In Lagos State, the unemployment rate in the mid 1996 was 11.4%. The high unemploymentrate has been largely affected by the economic situation in the country The standard of living has been going

dOW1].

Life is increasingly becoming more

difficult for people. The economic malaise ofthe country was due 10 acombination .of many factors. There is the over dependence an crude oilwhich pro vides abou t 97% of Nigeria's foreign exchange earnings. With the crash in the prices of crude oil in the world market in 1984, Nigeria 'seconomic woes started. Government's revenue fell significantly. Other factors that aggravated the situation were, the reckless expenditure by the government, unstable and corrupt government, poor attitude to work especially in the public sector, and the type ofeducation that was being given in schools and universities- an education which was oriented to wage employment .rather than to being selfreliant. Nigeria's economic condition escalatedto a crisis during the Second Republic. In fact during the 1983-84 period, many governments in the Federation could not meet their financial obligations. Both in the public and private

=t= the work

force was reduced to the total wage bill. About 156,150 workers were retrenched in the public sector during the period. This compounded the problems of an already' bad economic situation, as unemployment increased. To pull the economy

0 ut

of

the depression, the subsequentregime,adopted several strategies one of which is ;.,"the NgifOritil Directorate ofEinployme~t (NDE} The NDE was established to reduce 'unemployment and create jobs with emphasis all self-reliance and entrepreneurship. 169

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Planning In Nigeria,

The National Directorate

Of EmploymcntAnd

Youth Unemployment.

It had the directive to eoncentrateits efforts on the reactivation of public-works, the promotion of self-employment \Vage Employment In Nigeria In Nigeria, the practice of wage employment is relatively new as it was relativeJy': non-existent prior to the coming of the white man and the institution ofBdtish'; Administration. The growth of wage employment has proceeded pari-pasu with the political, social and economic growth of the country. Very often, it was vie.we.qq$ not being different from slavery. In fact the colonial master initially had jQr~s'OJj:0;: forced labour. The government however made it a policy to pay the workersfor. ... their labour. The success of this experiment resulted in the fostering ofwage employment and the growthof the civil service. The.institution of capitM-zatipnJax;',;:· .

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which every male adult was ex-pected to pay, further encourage wage..eIUploynWl.1t,' Those without crops to sell to obtain cash had to resort to wageell}pl()yrn,epH9i'. acquire the needed cashto pay their taxes. Both the Great Depression ofthe J Q39~, " and the World War 11 affected the growth of wage employment in :fue~oJlP..1:ry" During the Great Depression, government's.demand for labour declinedand Pot./:l:it and other employers oflabour

had to layoff workers andtheforced.labour

'

employment policy was put to an end. The soldiers who returned from the war' didn't want to go back to the farm but preferredto

takeup w~geep;lp!()yment.

About 120,000 soldiers were demobilized after the. war about 8Q,OQ~.t9f;th~m,

oil,

opted for wage employment. The .discovery of crude oil and thesubsequent boom.ofthe 1980s also enhanced wage employment in the country ..

However, Nigeria's economic conditions escalated ~ ...."...,.. into a crisis the Second ~.. Eepublic - .. . .

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Qn~.orfu,e strategies employed was massJetf,erl'~bI)1~nt ofworlcer?,.w~

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Total No

1651 1693 1839 1815 1726 1681 163:L

Nlmber Rese tIed

456

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I

612

502

734

532

609

701 679

~,

566 i 5981

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%ofIotal

27.61 36.14 27.20 40.44 30.8b 36.23 36.13 39,23 38.02 29.79

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Source: National Directorate of Fmplovment

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Human Rasourcas Planning In M"!,crin, The National Directorate

O(1tme/ovmclIIAnd

Youth Ummploymcl1l.

Of the 17.720 youths who participated in the scheme in the period under revie~,