…joblessness is not only about the absence of vacancies, but the absence of relevant skills.
Unemployment in Nigeria cannot be separated from unemployability, which Illorin-based Zuma Yahaya, talent specialist at Boubid, described as the widening gap between the skills workers possess and those the economy actually demands.
Yahaya argued this in a panel session, noting that the mismatch is evident even in basic assumptions about labour.
“We say we have millions of people without secondary education, so they should be blue-collar workers or entrepreneurs,” she said. “Yet we still import artisans from neighbouring countries.”
Her point was that joblessness is not only about the absence of vacancies, but also about the absence of relevant, practical skills. Even in sectors where Nigeria is richly endowed, the benefits often bypass local workers. In mining, she noted, most skilled and technical roles are held by foreign workers, while Nigerians are largely confined to low-paid, manual tasks.
“What we need to address is education, and not just tertiary education,” Yahaya said. “It has to be skills-based.”
That concern framed a broader debate on job creation, which analysts say remains central to Nigeria’s economic progress but is still guided by vague prescriptions rather than a clear, data-driven strategy. Governments, they noted, can create jobs through public sector hiring, infrastructure spending, tax incentives, education and training, as well as industrial and regulatory policies that support sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing and mining. Private sector partnerships also matter.
Yet several speakers warned that these tools are often discussed in generic terms, without sufficient attention to the structure of Nigeria’s workforce.
According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, about 86 per cent of Nigerians aged 15 to 64, roughly 76 million people, have no post-secondary education.
“We cannot discuss the workforce abstractly. We must face our realities,” said Elsie Godwin, co-founder and chief operating officer of Cashwise Finance. “These 76 million people need proper jobs with pensions, not just survivalist work.”
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Beyond slogans on job creation
The discussion also revisited agriculture, a sector frequently presented as Nigeria’s largest employment opportunity. Yinka Ogunnubi, a finance professional, argued that fears about mechanisation destroying jobs were misplaced.
“India, with a much larger population and far higher mechanisation, still employs about 45 percent of its workforce in agriculture,” he said. “Mechanised agriculture, combined with value addition through basic industrialisation, can unlock jobs across different skill levels.”
Others, however, cautioned against treating agriculture as a silver bullet. A panellist stressed that farming only becomes a large-scale employer when it is linked to processing, logistics and manufacturing.
“Agriculture alone does not do it,” he said. “Nothing works in silos. You need industrialisation around it.”
Mining and manufacturing were also cited as missed opportunities. Analysts argued that exporting raw minerals limits job creation and deepens dependence on foreign expertise. Local processing, they said, would create more skilled and semi-skilled roles.
Why this matters
Nigeria’s labour market pressures are intensifying as population growth continues to outpace job creation. Without targeted skills development, even new investments may fail to translate into employment for Nigerians.
Those who will benefit are workers who gain practical skills with a more focused approach, as well as local firms that can rely on domestic talent, and sectors that move into value-added production. Those who lose out will be those regions and industries that remain dependent on raw extraction and imported skills.
What to watch next
The key test will be whether the government moves beyond the broad promise of creating an “enabling environment” to define specific actions, including skills-based education, sector-focused training and clear accountability metrics. Without this shift, job creation risks remaining more slogan than strategy.
