CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Mass unemployment has become so visible and so poignant in the cities of use developed countries that economist and politicians cannot avoid seeking its causes and its alleviation. Naturally they wonder whether income distribution would be improved if only the unemployment were put to work.
Unemployment as we shall see takes different forms of resultant of course in all societies there are people who are not employed for instance, the very old, children of schools age and the sick.
When seeking about unemployment we are usually thinking of one particular factor of production only, which is labour. It is a hazard peculiar to an economic system. Human engage in various productive activities in order to satisfy their wants.
In producing human wants (goods and services) land, labour, and capital are utilized for these purpose labour. Being the most dynamic factor of production should be combined with other factor for as to produce sufficient goods and service for general consumption and if fully utilized then there will be no unemployment.
Odunyi (1988) in his book titled unemployment rate in Nigeria explained that the functional natural of Nigeria self-employed where that school leavers cannot be self-employed due to lack of foreign reserved and even growing in serviceable depts. Which brought about retrenchment and high rate of unemployment that prevails in the country.
In the recent years Yusuf (1989) in the Nigeria journal of economic and social study postulated that some unemployment could be attributed directly to industrial progress. This is because sometimes rather uneven distribution of resources, it was the poor industrial nation that the first to experience unemployment in Nigeria, the problem started with the introduction of many economy by colonial masters to substitute or alter the substances economic which our people were conversant with.
The Nigeria civil war create room for job opportunities for many people in the armed forces. But the rate of unemployment increased after the civil war, because of the economic effects, majority of the employed people were in agony as a result, there were a lot of suffering.
Oduniyi (1987) emphasized that unemployment rate in December (1985) and that of the then Bendel State now Edo State and delta state was sixty four percent (64%) unemployment rate.
Labour as we already pointed out is a peculiar kind of factor in that, while standing little, it does not fail morally and physically.
The man who is out of job for long time physically losses his self respect and fell that he is no longer useful to the community/society eventually he losses confidence in his ability to do even that particular job for which he has be trained to do.
Moreover, difficult he find it to work for employer when filling vacant cites unemployment therefore means a person capable of and willing to work is unable to find a suitable paid employed in the production of the goods and service required in the community.