Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Nigeria.
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ABSTRACT
Umuahia metropolis typifies a fast growing capital city in terms of population growth rate. Its population grew from less than 20,000 residents in 1991 to an estimated excess over a million at present. This astronomical growth in population followed the creation of Abia State in 1991 and the subsequent change in the status of Umuahia as a state capital territory. Following this tremendous rise in population, Umuahia North metropolis which is the core capital city now has a teaming population of youths, most of whom are unemployed. This study was conceptualized against the backdrop of the increasing social and economic problems associated with youth unemployment in the metropolis. Some effort was made to characterize youth unemployment in the city from the perspective of the socio-economic and labour market perceptions of a sample of 220 youths drawn from areas with varying residential configurations. The sample randomly included youths, unemployed and employed in order to provide some basic counterbalancing assessment of the situation. It was found that youth unemployment in the town shared common characteristics with that observed in several other cities in the developing world. In particular, age of respondent was found to be inversely related to level of unemployment, hence suggesting that unemployment in the city was most pronounced among youths. Educational attainment and job preference were interrelated variables which had direct relationship with unemployment level. It was particularly noted that majority of the unemployed and first-time job seekers preferred salaried employment to selfemployment.
This orientation, although deriving from the economic and human capital development realities of the country, could be retrogressive in a liberalized market-driven economy. The youths showed strong aversion to rural-residency for several reasons prominent among which were lack of employment opportunities and poor social and physical infrastructures. Some policy issues were raised to provide a basis for a stronger community-driven rural and agricultural development strategy and alternative labour market variables.