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The Relationship Between Unemployment And Rape In Nigeria
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Every society
across the globe has its peculiar problems and challenges. Nigeria is
not an exception. As a developing country, she faces her own share of
social, political, economic and cultural problems which has in no small
measure affected the well-being of the populace. Such problems
bedeviling the country include youth‟s unemployment and the rising wave
of crime, which have serious implications for national development.
The
population of youth in Nigeria is about 46.4 million especially between
the age group of 15- 39 years (National Bureau of Statistics (NBS)
Abuja. 2017). As the overall population of the youth is growing,
government should provide jobs and other incentives to teeming
unemployed graduates and youths. Unfortunately, unemployment situation
in Nigeria, especially the youth has been on the increase since mid
1980s when the economy started witnessing a down-turn. Although,
unemployment is a global phenomenon but the rate varies across different
countries depending on the size and capacity of the economy to provide
jobs for its citizens.
Unemployment rate in Nigeria has continued to
be on the increase despite the abundant human and natural resources
available in the country. Chronic youth‟s unemployment is evident in
Nigeria. Every year, thousands of graduates are produced but there are
no jobs for majority of them. Nigerian streets are littered with youth
hawkers who ordinarily would have found gainful employment in some
enterprise (Okafor, 2011). The large number of youths who are unemployed
is capable of undermining democratic practice as they constitute a
serious threat if engaged by the political class for clandestine and
criminal activities (Okafor, 2011).
According to the National Bureau
of Statistics (2009), the national unemployment rates for Nigeria
between 2000 and 2011 showed that the number of unemployed persons
constituted 31.1% in 2000 and reduced to 11- 9% in 2005. Again, it rose
to 23.9% in 2011 and 29.5% in 2012. It has been projected by NBS that
unemployment rate will rise above 35% in 2013 and 2014 respectively. The
same statistics showed that on the average, youth unemployment rate in
Nigeria was 46.5% in 2012 (BLG, 2012).The high rate of violent crime in
Nigeria today has been blamed in many quarters on unemployment,
especially of the youth. Research findings suggest also that the
unemployed youth are disproportionally more likely to be perpetrators as
well as victims of crime and violence (Okafor, 2011). The growing gap
between the rich and the poor affects the society through increased
violence such as rape.
The heightened rate of crime in Nigeria in
recent times is worrisome and disturbing. This is evident in daily news
report of various crime such as robbery, pilfering, burglary, car theft,
rape, kidnapping, internet scam and other social media crimes. South
Western Nigeria, in the yesteryear, was known for peaceful and tranquil
atmosphere with adequate protection of lives and properties but in
recent times, the spate of insecurity has taken another dimension. For
instance, Aramoko-Erio-Efon, Akure-Ikere and Ado-Ijan routes have become
endangered routes for travelers as many have fallen victims of kidnap
or robbery along these routes . Also, a Professor of a private
university was kidnapped in Ondo State and his dead body was later found
(Oladele, Akeke Oladunjoye 2011). Unfortunately, youths who are more
than half of Nigeria’s population as at 2016 census (Mbachu & Alake,
2016) and the energetic class, who should diversify their strengths to
the development of the country are often found culpable in the challenge
of crimes confronting the country.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The
high unemployment rate among youths in Nigeria has been attributed to
many factors including rapid rural unban migration, rapid population
growth, inappropriate school curricula, corruption, decline of the
manufacturing sector, perception of policy makers and the youths
themselves on employment and poor governance (Adebayo, 2013; Ekeji,
2019). There is a consensus among scholars that joblessness is connected
to criminality such as rape. Ehrlich cited in Jelilov and Ndanitsa
(2015) noted that joblessness is connected with offence because the time
spent for genuine work decreases the chance of illegal work. Decrease
in unemployment, according to Fadaei-Tehrani and Green in Jelilov &
Ndanitsa (2015) leads to decrease in crime and vice versa. UN-Habitat
discovered that socio-economic inequality and lack of opportunities for
social advancement and employment are some of the root causes of crime
and violence (Ajaegbu, 2012). On the other hand, most of the crimes such
as robbery, kidnapping, thuggery and others are characterised with
violence and endanger the security of the victims and the society. The
study, therefore, seeks to find the relationship between unemployment
and rape in Nigeria.
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ABSRACT - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]This study was carried out on the relationship between unemployment and rape in Nigeria. To achieve this 3 research questions were formulated. The survey design was adopted and the simple random sampling techniques were employed in this study. The population size comprise of selected residents of the Uyo Capital City. In determining the sample size, the researcher conveniently selected 267 residents while 260 were returned and validated. Self-constructed and validated questionnaire was used for ... Continue reading---
