Vincent N. Ajagu, is a Nigerian based in the City of Oakland, California, USA. Ajagu is the President/Founder of Community Charitable Service Centre, a non-profit organisation. He is a business administrator who studied Business Administration from San Jose State University, Califonia. In this interview with Saturday Vanguard Business, he states why unemployment is rocking the nation with youths not gaining employment as supposed and at the same time suggests the way forward. Excerpts:

In Nigeria, the rate of youths’ unemployment is alarming…

The problem of unemployment is a global crisis. Every country is faced with the problem. In some countries the rate is high while in other countries is low.

Yes, Nigeria happens to be one of the countries where the rate is pretty high especially among the youths. So, what comes to the mind of many concerned Nigerians both home and abroad is how to reduce the increasing unemployment rate. This also boils down on the issue of who is responsible to reducing unemployment rate in the country; the government or the private sector?

However, if we must solve the problem of unemployment among youths in my view, it should be a collective responsibility of the government and the private sector pulling resources together. Therefore, to promote an atmosphere for job creation, our government needs to utilise resources wisely. There is need to rebuild our infrastructures such as roads, bridges, airports, electricity, put refinaries at work etc. Until these amenities are in place, it will be almost impossible for jobs to be created in Nigeria. Nigeria is not a poor country. Our problem is self inflicted. Our past governments did not did not do enough to arrest the situation.

What do you think is the cause of this?

One of the major causes of unemployment in Nigeria is corruption and again lack of accountability. There is no transparency in the system. In other to tackle unemployment in Nigeria, our current government must tackle and defeat corruption in our system.

Just recently, President Goodluck announced that from 2015, there will be steady electricity in Nigeria. That is thinking in the right direction. But the question that comes in mind is, how will his government tackle corruption in order to deliver on his promise?

Few jobs available can’t serve all, what do you think youths should begin to do?

It is very unfortunate that many of our youths have lost hope of a successful living in Nigeria. Many of them are graduates who studied very hard to maintain good grades with the hope of getting a good job after graduation but today reverse is the case. After many years of searching for jobs they become frustrated on the streets and give up. I advise they should not give up, there are many positive things they can do these days with the help of Internet, they can become self employed. With some research on the Internet they can find the right business that will not require huge capital to start a business.

Nigeria is measuring up in terms of technology building, what is your advise to Nigerian government on this?

Technology is part of the infrastructure needed to create jobs. Nigerian government must invest heavily in technology. They can achieve this easily through partnership with countries that have achieved much with modern day technologies. Countries that can help us out in our economy so that the economy would grow. Security is very important if we must achieve this. We must make sure we guarantee safety of foreign partners, investors etc.

Do you think President Jonathan can deliver on the economy?

Well, for him to deliver on the economy depends on Nigerians. Are they ready to work with him sincerely? Are they ready to give him a chance? Are they ready to denounce corruption and welcome accountability? If the answers to these questions above are resounding YES, then I can assure you that he will deliver on the economy.

You have been mentioning corruption as one of the factors militating the economic system, suggest ways we can deal with this killer disease?

To tackle corruption in Nigeria, the federal and state governments must take the front seat in dealing with it. They need to enact laws against corruption and those laws must be enforced.

On a general note, how do you see Nigeria as an oil producing state?

Nigeria is one of the world major oil producing countries. They are ranked number 3 or 5 in the world. It is just unfortunate that we are not taking advantage of our natural endowment (oil). Just recently, it was announced that Nigeria will soon start to import fuel from Niger Republic. That is very wrong and I hope that this move is temporary until our refineries can produce at full capacity. This is one of the things Nigeria as oil producing country should be exporting to neighbouring countries, but because our house is not in order reverse now becomes the case.