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Former 2023 presidential candidate Peter Obi has said that Nigeria’s youth unemployment should be treated as a national emergency, citing a report that estimates more than 80 million young Nigerians are without jobs.
The State of the Nigerian Youth Report 2025, released in September by Plan International Nigeria, found that youth unemployment stands at 53%. The report described the situation as the single greatest threat to the future of Africa’s most populous country.
Reacting to the findings in a post on X on Tuesday, Obi said the report was “an indictment of our leadership and economic direction.”
The former governor of Anambra state said the level of unemployment among young people was not a youth problem but a failure of leadership and policy.
This is the direct result of political greed that has failed to serve the people, he noted.
The former governor noted that Nigeria has one of the largest youth populations in the world, with about 75 per cent of its citizens under the age of 35.
“When millions of youths are unemployed, it is not a youth problem; it is a leadership failure. This is the direct result of political greed that has failed to serve the people,” Obi wrote.
“Nigeria has one of the largest youth populations in the world, with about 75% of our citizens under the age of 35. With such a large share of the population young, joblessness at this scale should be a national emergency.”
He said the situation is the result of political wasteful spending, corruption, unproductive borrowing, and policies that will shrink opportunities and expand poverty, reducing Nigerian youths to easy tools for all forms of vices.
He criticised Nigerian leaders for failing to invest in young people as the country’s productive assets and for neglecting to promote and support Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) that drive growth and create employment.
Obi added, “Nigeria does not lack entrepreneurial and resourceful youths; what we lack are leaders who are intentional about creating opportunities.”
He called on young Nigerians to get more involved in politics and to make sure they choose leaders who are in their best interests.
Nigeria, he said, deserves “competent, credible, compassionate, and capable leadership, one that will create opportunities and empower our young Nigerians.”
