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Poverty is one of the main consequences of unemployment in Nigeria and current statistics show it has been on the increase over the past years. In an article published by Premium Times Nigeria, the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) projected that the country’s unemployment rate will hit 37 per cent in 2023.
The group in its 2023 Macroeconomic Outlook report titled, ‘Nigeria in transition: Recipes for shared prosperity’, opines that the country’s poverty headcount will rise further to 45 per cent, due to weak performance in the job-elastic sectors, and low labour absorption of sectors that will drive growth. Furthermore, the nation’s population growth estimated at 3.2 per cent will lead to a decline in real per capita income. The report also noted that the country’s GDP growth is expected to moderate to 2.98 per cent, as economic growth will be subdued in 2023 due to strains on investment and low productivity in critical sectors.
This realization has driven both profit and non-profit organizations of government and private sectors to establish means through which unemployment can be alleviated via empowerment programs targeted at mostly the lower and median age group of the country, that is the youths, averaging the age range of 18-40 years. Youth empowerment programmes aimed at poverty alleviation will thus become one of the major trends set to tackle the issue of unemployment.
Most youth empowerment programmes have proven to be successful over the years. A rather lasting solution that has come to stay and a welcomed development to say the least. They all come in different shapes and sizes as they differ in eligibility, renumeration, training methods, skill acquisition, duration and overall quality to mention just a few.
The post impact of these programmes is what matters the most and a case study found that, empowering young people contributed significantly towards improving the standard of living of the respondents (87.7%) within the study area. Among the respondents, 73.5% were satisfied with the performance of youth empowerment schemes.
Other positives include: Improved social skills, improved behaviour, increased academic accomplishment, increased self-esteem, and increased self-efficacy are all results of youth empowerment programs. All these and more enable beneficiaries of the empowerment schemes to have what it takes to earn a living for themselves, thus, reducing the unemployment rate in the country.
The essential fact is that nations that prioritizes its youth populace will always accomplish great strides in nation building and development. Young people are an amazing and integral part of a nation’s population because they are not only symbols of the future, but a nation’s real strength. To empower a nation’s younger generation is to bring out its full potential. These schemes encourage a majority of the work force to improve their acquired and latent skills thereby empowering them economically and giving them the confidence to contribute to the economic well-being of a nation at that young age. With young people contributing their quota, the society will be secured enough because an empowered youth will never become the bane of the society in which they live in.
This societal quality is one that spawns as a result of the morals and values absorbed by an empowered youth. It creates a sense of responsibility and leadership skills in youths due to which they can feel and identify the actual practical problems of the society from which many people are suffering and offer remedies that work. Every sector or arm of a functional society; be it political, business, education, military, health, civil or what have you, will function better with products of youth empowerment.
This is why organisations like Seplat Energy Plc have taken it upon themselves to further push the agenda of youth empowerment, by joining a non-for-profit organisation like the C4C to support the empowerment of Nigeria’s young population in a programme tagged Seplat Global Entrepreneurship Fellowship Programme.
Seplat Energy is a leading Nigerian energy company listed on the Nigerian Exchange and the London Stock Exchange and thriving in the Nigerian oil and gas sector with numerous achievements restated its commitment to continuous empowerment of entrepreneurs in Nigeria in line with the Federal Government’s resolve to reduce the level of unemployment amongst the youth.
The company gave this assurance on Monday during a lecture it put together to further equip and develop capacity of the 55 successful graduates since 2019, and present a cheque of ₦16.5 million in seed money for the new set of entrepreneurs under the Seplat JV/ Conversation for Change (C4C) youth entrepreneurship programme this year. The event was held in Abuja.
The Seplat Global Entrepreneurship Fellowship Programme, in partnership with C4C. is aimed at developing leadership skills, social entrepreneurship and business management abilities, through generalised and targeted capacity building workshops. The graduates’ ability to action their ideas is supported through equipment funding, as well as mentoring.
This collaboration has been very successful in achieving the goals of both organisations and has contributed significantly to national economic development.
Activities that marked part of this year’s graduation was a lecture themed: ‘Unleashing Nigeria’s untapped potential through entrepreneurship and sustainability’ delivered by the former Independent Non-Executive Director, Seplat Energy Plc, Ms. Arunma Oteh.
Oteh commended Seplat Energy JV and its partner (C4C) for their strong commitment to youth empowerment in Nigeria, saying their activities have not only helped in reducing unemployment and ameliorating the level of poverty, but have also contributed to economic growth and prosperity in the country.
According to her, Seplat Energy’s approach to sustainability has put the company on a very high pedestal amongst its peers, thus making the company a reference point in Nigeria and internationally.
“The C4C programme presents an opportunity for young entrepreneurs to start right and build sustainable companies with enormous impacts, provide problem-solving solutions and unleashing Nigeria’s enormous potential,” she added.
Ms. Oteh urged the youth entrepreneurs to focus on the long-term and build businesses that would outlive them, stressing that the benefits of good business structures cannot be overemphasized.
In his message to the youth entrepreneurs, Independent Non-Executive Director, Seplat Energy, Mr. Bello Rabiu, pledged the company’s continuous commitment to encouraging and supporting entrepreneurship in Nigeria.
He said youth entrepreneurs are major change catalysts in any economy and all hands must be on deck in the quest to empower them and therefore reduce the level of unemployment in Nigeria today.
Also speaking at the programme, the Director, External Affairs & Sustainability, Seplat Energy, Dr. Chioma Nwachuku, said since 2019, C4C and Seplat Energy have worked together to ensure that the lives of young Nigerians are improved by supporting them to start and sustain their business enterprises.
Through this partnership, Dr. Nwachuku noted, the duo has successfully trained and supported 3 batches of fellows, which is about 55 young entrepreneurs who are thriving, creating value and boosting Nigeria’s economy.
She said: “Each beneficiary has shown resilience, creativity and innovation through the duration of the yearly programme and have now become our proofs of concept that could truly make Nigeria better by investing in the youth population.
“From the selection process to intensive face-to-face training on key management aspects of business, participation in internship trainings with credible companies in their area of vocation and the support provided to each of their businesses, these activities of the fellowship programme have produced innovative and well equipped young social entrepreneurs, ready to take on the world of business and succeed.
“Seplat Energy CSR over the last 11 years have been hinged on the pillars of Health, Education, Infrastructural Development and Economic Empowerment. We believe that the greatest route to the economic growth of Nigeria is through economic empowerment of particularly the youth, women and underserved.”
Seplat Energy’s CSR Programmes are aligned to the close out of SDG 1 (no poverty), SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 3 (good health and well-being), SDG 4 (Quality education), and SDG 8 (decent work and economic growth). The company partners with C4C because it speaks to SDG 8 amongst others.
Through these programmes, Seplat Energy has continued to equip and empower young Nigerians to not only be the leaders of tomorrow, but also to be the agents of change for their generation.
Seplat has not only helped young vibrant youths through empowerment but they have also ensured continued support for each and everyone of the youths who were empowered. They have also made sure that these empowered youths have succeeded in their various business activities and ensured that they made enormous changes through methods that have proven successful over the years, such as: performing monitoring and evaluation to track the success of these young startups and continuous support on an ongoing basis from an Entrepreneurship Resource/Support Centre. These methodologies have resulted to the establishment of variety of businesses in diverse fields and a growing network of entrepreneurs.
Thus, why Seplat and C4C are unique. In the grand scheme of things and at the heart of all this is the idea of sustainability, of devolution of development, one which says it is not up to government alone, but rather one for organisations with proven capacity for adding value to communities. It’s also about devolution of development in the sense that those who are today empowered will in turn empower others with the knowledge and resources that their own empowerment avails them. This is the charitable value Seplat Energy PLC incorporates towards achieving its youth empowerment scheme; one that fosters the idea that the youth are capable of incredible things when empowered. This is key in battling and conquering unemployment in the country.
