‘Youth Unemployment, Drug Abuse Threatening Nigeria’s Future’

A member of the Bauchi College of Arts and Science (BACAS) Old Students Association, Mr. Daniel Musa Mohammed, has warned that Nigeria is sitting on a time bomb due to rising youth unemployment, drug abuse and idleness, particularly in the North-East region.

Mohammed in a lecture at the BACAS Grand Convention and Golden Jubilee Celebration on Saturday at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi, said the growing population of unemployed and disengaged youths, coupled with poverty and limited access to education, could worsen social problems if urgent measures were not taken.

Reflecting on his experience as a former student of BACAS, Mohammed described the institution as a vibrant educational establishment that provided students with free tuition, hostel accommodation, meals, soap and scholarships, while also maintaining committed lecturers and adequate infrastructure.

He said the discipline and values acquired at BACAS played an important role in the academic and professional development of its students.

“The ethics we learnt in BACAS helped us in our university education and our working places. Most of us have worked for 35 years and retired,” he said.

Mohammed who holds traditional title of Kagaman Deba in Gombe State challenged members of the old students association, particularly retirees, to consider how they could contribute their knowledge, experience and resources towards addressing contemporary social and economic challenges.

He drew attention to the youth population of the North-East, citing figures from the National Youth Survey (NYS) 2025, which he said put the number of youths aged 15 to 35 years in the region at 11.3 million.

According to him, females account for 52.8 per cent of the youth population, while 42.2 per cent of youths in the region have never attended school.

He attributed the high rate of out-of-school children and youths in parts of the region to conflict, displacement and humanitarian challenges, particularly in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states.

Mohammed further said youth unemployment and underemployment in Nigeria remained high, while poverty levels in the North had continued to pose serious challenges.

He warned that the situation could create a large population of idle youths vulnerable to violence, drug abuse, gangsterism and other forms of criminality.

“The net effect is a large army of idle youths with high dependency ratio, low investment capacity and high tendency towards social vices such as violence, drug abuse, gangsterism and crime,” he said.

He also expressed concern over what he described as the growing incidence of drug abuse among women, both married and unmarried, urging stakeholders to pay greater attention to the trend.

Mohammed cited the Arab Spring as an example of how youth unemployment and economic frustrations could contribute to social upheaval. He also referenced a British Generation Next report which, according to him, warned of the risk of social unrest in Nigeria arising from youth joblessness.

He said the economic consequences of widespread youth unemployment included reduced productivity and gross domestic product, lower consumer spending and the long-term “scarring effect” of reduced lifetime earnings.

On the social consequences, he listed rising cases of armed robbery, kidnapping, militancy, protests and substance abuse.

To address the challenges, Mohammed identified agriculture, irrigation, solid minerals, oil and gas, information and communication technology (ICT), solar energy, entertainment and tourism as sectors with significant potential for youth engagement and job creation.

He urged BACAS old students to leverage their professional experience, networks and resources to develop programmes capable of engaging young people productively.

Mohammed also called on the association to establish dedicated committees on economic development and humanitarian activities as part of its contribution to the development of society.

He said such initiatives would enable the association to extend the values and opportunities its members benefited from at BACAS to a new generation of young Nigerians.