Despite the frantic efforts of successive governments to ensure they aren’t trapped in the pothole cruelly dug by joblessness among the teeming citizens, they still overtime encounter its ruthless scourge, apparently signifying that their effort isn’t good enough or that something is really wrong somewhere.

      However, my last visit to one of the West African countries lately made me understand that Nigeria isn’t exceptional while discussing unemployment or that the term is not peculiar to the acclaimed giant of Africa.

      But, it seems the degree at which it parades its tentacles and elbows in Nigeria is so enormous that the country is ostensibly taking the lead in the comity of nations. This is the sole reason many are deeply concerned and bothered over the anomaly, hence the need for drastic measures towards cushioning the excruciating effects.

      It’s noteworthy that unemployment is not a personal plight but a general one, thus the essence of a societal approach in a bid to tackle it. This is why countless schools of thought have overtime shown great concern over the lingering nature of the cankerworm as well as aired their views on how best to tackle it.

      Though unemployment isn’t a convincing excuse to indulge in any crime, hence no discerning mind encourages people to resort to it, it’s worth noting that its scourge remains one of the prime reasons all sorts of criminal activities have escalated in recent times.

      Another disturbing occurrence that’s apropos of unemployment is the employability status of our present days’ graduates. It’s not anymore news that most of these youths are obviously unemployable, thus posing a threat to the labour market and their chances of being meaningfully employed.

      The plight as stated in the above paragraph is mainly attributable to lack of adequate knowledge as acquired from their respective institutions of learning, or inability of our various undergraduates to stick to the needful while on campus.

      Taking a painstaking study of all these issues, it’s needless to assert that the ongoing unemployment crisis in Nigeria is not unconnected with dilapidated learning environment cum facilities, decline in the country’s value system, and insufficient employers of labour, among others.

      Though nepotism is highly condemnable and unacceptable, those who attribute unemployment to it might be making a big mistake because if there are sufficient firms or employment opportunities, such a practice like favouritism or what have you would hardly be detected by anyone.

      Before now, or in the olden days, Nigerians were gainfully engaged with various works simply because the jobs were readily available and the population was conspicuously far lesser than what we could witness now.

      But with the growing lack of sustainability of various government-owned establishments coupled with the astronomical growth of the country’s population, the job spaces abruptly became overwhelmed by the number of people in the labour market.

      A lot has really gone wrong in the system, but the good news is that, we can once again get it right if the needful is done by the relevant authorities. This can only be actualized by revisiting the drawing board.

      It would be very wonderful for the government to comprehend that the endless unemployment issues can aptly be addressed by truly comprehending the real value of technology, hence embracing its measures. It’s worthy of note that only technological approach could significantly alleviate all crises that are apropos unemployment.

      First, we need to revamp the country’s education sector. The current educational system of the Nigerian society has really deteriorated that an urgent, candid and apt measure is required towards its revitalization.

     We must be ready to train our young ones with a view to becoming self-reliant in their respective abilities. Since the population is growing by the day and the firms aren’t increasing meaningfully, there’s a compelling need to prepare these Nigerians so they could emerge as entrepreneurs or employers of labour rather than seekers.

       Our various technical colleges, which have apparently gone into moribund, must be revived in earnest to keep the ground running. Those days, graduates of these institutions – even without proceeding to a higher level of learning – could stand on their own as well as comfortably raise wonderful families with their earnings.

       The governments at all levels ought to endeavour to equip the various tertiary schools in their respective jurisdictions, so that, the graduates can defend themselves in any setting and equally start up something meaningful without ‘giraffing’ for the availability of any form of white-collar job as it is currently the case.

      In view of the above, the schools’ authorities must strengthen the value of the ongoing Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES), which was primarily set up by the government to aid the technical upbringing of the learners irrespective of their disciplines.

      Hence, it’s high time the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), the body imbued with the powers to service the SIWES and sustain its viability, started doing the needful. The authority must endeavour to face priorities squarely at the expense of frivolities, as I rightly mentioned in my previous works.

      They must deploy a functional mechanism that would ensure thorough monitoring of the industrial trainees from time-to-time as long as the training lasts. This proposed task mustn’t be shortchanged for any reason whatsoever if we truly want the SIWES to be result-oriented.

      Our engineering graduates, just as it’s being observed in the medical and law fields, ought to be mandated to undergo a compulsory one-year national programme strictly on further industrial workshop training. This should serve as a prerequisite to the ongoing National Youth Service.

      Inter alia, the governments need to provide an enabling environment to enable all tech-driven talents to thrive as well as ensure that the available patents of the numerous institutions domiciled in their jurisdictions are duly commercialized. Research works in any quarter must also be given due attention since technology is strictly dependent on research.

     Conclusively, it would be sacrilegious to beat about the bush while discussing tech-driven matters, because technology is all about facts. Hence, the government needs to acknowledge that the suggested measures can never yield significant and tangible results if we continue to relegate the power supply issue to the background.

      We must understand that only uninterruptible electricity can encourage entrepreneurship to a great extent as desired by the people. Therefore, this technological factor requires the highest sincere attention.  

The famous gospel singer, Sis Osinachi Nwachukwu was reported to have “joined the saints” last week. The report claimed she died of cancer while her family members and close friends/ associates are clamoring that she died of domestic violence from her husband. Some gave a vivid report on how her husband had turned the late gospel singer into a punching bag landing her in the hospital on numerous occasions before she finally gave up the ghost.

Although, these reports are merely speculations and accusations; legally speaking, they are just accusations against the husband of the late singer until the law enforcement agents carry out an intensive investigation to determine the veracity of this accusation.

But this is not the first time reports are making around the media of a wife being murdered by her husband. Not quite long, a traditional ruler in Ondo state physically assaulted and sent one of his wives to her early grave. It seems we have forgotten about that and the case and swept it under the carpet.

Every day, there are incidents of family violence in Nigeria, the ones that make it to the media are the ones we know about.

Last year, specifically on the 27th of February, 2021, the Guardian Newspaper reported that at least once a week, there’s a case of a man beating, maiming, or killing his wife in Nigeria. 

Domestic violence is a big deal in Nigeria and it doesn’t seem to be ending any time soon because it appears that some cultures and religions have accepted and approved some form of domestic violence. For instance, some cultures and religions encourage a man to beat up his wife as a way of cautioning her, even the penal code legalizes a man beating up his wife as a way of correcting  her if she “misbehaves”. S 55(1)(d)  of the penal code made this provision: “Nothing is an offense which does not amount to the infliction of grievous hurt upon any person which is done by a husband for the purpose of correcting his wife…”.

Also, Spousal rape which is another form of domestic abuse/ violence is yet to be criminalized. That spectrum of domestic abuse by one partner having a forced carnal knowledge of another partner is not a crime or an offense in as much as the parties are married. It is not recognized or is yet to be recognized as a crime or offense in Nigeria for the husband to sexually abuse or rape the wife and vice versa.

Importantly, it is noteworthy that When we talk about domestic violence as a concept, it is not limited to physical assault by one partner on another partner. In its broadest sense, domestic violence also involves violence against house help/maids, children, parents, or the elderly. It can come in different forms, including physical, verbal, emotional, economic, or sexual, and it can also include the use of technology to stalk harass, control, monitor, or hack a spouse a family member. It is this wide and encompassing.

Western countries like the UK and the US have made several legislations criminalizing the offense of domestic violence and gender-based violence with stiffer punishments. The Uk has made a lot of legislations like The Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004, the Domestic abuse act, The Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, which is known as the Istanbul Convention passed in 2011 which the UK is a signatory to are some of the notable laws in the countries that are made specifically to protect the weaker partners in the marriage institutions against physical assault and abuse.

In the USA as well, the Violence Against Women Act (“VAWA”) and many other legislations recognize that domestic violence is a federal crime.

Despite the high rate of domestic violence in Nigeria, It seems that the country is yet to legally step up and do the needful in terms of making stiffer legislation and making sure such legislation is enforced in the fight against domestic violence.

What needs to be done to stop or reduce the cases of domestic violence in Nigeria?

The Nigerian lawmakers should make law(s) that concerns itself specifically with Domestic violence and abuse which provide stiffer punishments for the offense.

Some of these laws that encourage domestic violence like the penal code should be amended. Those specific sections of the penal code like s.55(1)(d) that subtly advocated for domestic violence should be abolished.

Customs and traditions that promote domestic violence should be held to be repugnant to natural justice, equity, and good conscience and therefore cannot stand.

Domestic violence should be treated as a violation of the fundamental right of an individual thereby making it a criminal offense against the state.

Women who are the most known victims of this violence should be encouraged to speak up and taken into therapy and rehabilitation sessions.

These few recommendations should be implemented as soon as possible. 

In conclusion, I will not fail to mention that there are NGOs who are always ready to take up cases like this pro bono; for instance, The International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) is very notable for their  fight against gender based violence, spousal abuse and any form of domestic abuse. They have offices scattered all over the country With their head office located at Block 1, Flat 1, Ankpa Close Ogun Street Area 2, Garki, Abuja. Email:fidanigeria@yahoo.com
Phone: +234 708 849 6115  and their Lagos office is located at 14/16 Makoko Road, Off Herbert Macaulay Way, Yaba, Lagos.

The Cleen Foundation is also one of the notable NGOs doing a lot advocating against domestic abuse in Nigeria. Their headquarters is located at 26, Bamenda Crescent, Wuse Zone 3, Abuja, Nigeria.
Phone number:  +234-7067899368

These and many more are some of the NGOs that are established to fight against domestic violence and abuse in Nigeria. 

If as a victim of domestic violence and any of these NGOs are inaccessible or unreachable to you, you can approach the nearest police station and lay your complaints or can approach any lawyer. Many lawyers including myself (the writer) are always ready to come through and take up any case of this nature Pro Bono. I will always be ready to pull whatever resources necessary to follow up and handle any case of this nature that comes my way; you just have to speak up. My personal email address is infoitooknow@gmail.com

On the victim’s part; speak up, seek help, leave the relationship and stay alive.