The Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of the University of Ibadan, Chief Bisi Akande, has issued a stark warning that Nigeria risks facing the collective anger of its vast population of untrained and unskilled youths if urgent steps are not taken to address the country’s deepening human capacity crisis.
Speaking in Ibadan at the 19th International Annual Conference, General Assembly and Investiture of Fellows of the Society for Peace Studies and Practice (SPSP), on Tuesday kande described the growing army of untrained youths as a time bomb that could destabilise national peace if left unattended.
According to him, Nigeria is “truly at war with itself” because despite having vast forests, minerals and natural resources, the majority of its young population lacks the knowledge and technical ability to harness these assets for national prosperity.
“We have large populations of uneducated and untrained workers who have no capacity to exploit our resources for wealth. Until these young Nigerians are massively trained in science and technology, the wars from ignorance, poor health and abject poverty will continue to hold us down,” Akande stated.
He warned that the vacuum created by the country’s weak human capital base has left the nation vulnerable to exploitation, both by foreign actors “disguising as bandits, Boko Haram or terrorists,” and by local criminal groups feeding on widespread poverty and frustration.
Akande’s concerns echoed the keynote address delivered by former Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa (rtd.), who also warned that youth joblessness has become an urgent national and global security threat. Musa said investing in entrepreneurship, vocational training and the digital economy remains Nigeria’s most cost-efficient peacekeeping strategy.
“Corruption is economic sabotage,” Musa added, canvassing a “Grand Alliance for Peace” that would unite government, private sector, civil society, academia and security institutions to tackle insecurity.
Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Professor Kayode Adebowale, also cautioned that youth unemployment breeds a reservoir of disillusionment easily exploited by extremists, adding that decent work and fair wages are essential for social stability.
The SPSP conference also featured the conferment of Fellowship awards on Chief Akande, General Musa, Comptroller General of Immigration Kemi Nanna Nandap, former UI Vice Chancellor Prof. Olufemi Bamiro, former DVC Academic Prof. Adeyinka Aderinto and other eminent Nigerians.
