Unemployment and Poverty: Implications for National Security and Good Governance in Nigeria

Abstract

This paper examines the relationships between unemployment, poverty and insecurity in Nigeria. The paper holds that unemployment causes poverty and that poverty causes insecurity. In a nation where a large number of the people are unemployed, they would be poor; and poverty would lead to the insecurity of lives and property as the peoples’ capacity to engage themselves meaningfully in the nation’s socio-economic processes would be highly reduced. They would channel their energies to unorthodox methods as crimes to eke out a living for themselves and as they do this, they endanger lives and property in the society and raise the cost of governance. It therefore suggests the restructuring of the nation’s socio-economc processes and policies to reduce poverty and unemployment; and to accomodate the less-previledged and unemployed members of the
society to achieve national security.