Premium News
Former presidential candidate and Labour Party leader, Peter Obi, has delivered a blistering indictment of Nigeria’s political leadership, declaring that the country’s staggering youth unemployment crisis is not a failure of young people but a monumental collapse of leadership.
Obi stated this in his verified ‘X’ handle on Tuesday while reacting to a recent ActionAid/Plan International report which revealed that over 80 million Nigerian youths were unemployed.
He described the situation as a “national emergency” that exposes decades of political greed, policy recklessness, and misplaced priorities.
According to the report, Nigeria currently tops the world in the absolute number of unemployed youths, a consequence of its large population and sustained economic mismanagement.
Obi contrasted Nigeria’s situation with South Africa, where a youth unemployment rate of about 60 percent translated to roughly six million unemployed youths, more than 70 million fewer than Nigeria’s figure.
“When millions of youths are unemployed, it is not a youth problem; it is a leadership failure,” Obi said.
“Nigeria does not lack entrepreneurial and resourceful youths, what we lack are leaders who are intentional about creating opportunities,” he stressed..
