The Politics of Change, Precariatised Youth Unemployment and Active Labour Market Policies in Nigeria

The insecurities suffered by the youth precariat class in Nigeria derive from labour market insecurity, employment insecurity, skill reproduction insecurity, income insecurity and representation insecurity, all of which point to largely steep economic, social and political insecurities. This labyrinth of insecurities, particularly as it manifests in bulging youth unemployment, further marginalises this class, and exacerbates its precarity. Since members of this class respond in the most vicious way by pulling at the fabric of social cohesion and peace or in the least by running a criminal economy aimed at achieving economic assuagement, serious commitment must be made by the political and economic managers of the state to address youth unemployment crisis in Nigeria. Particularly, a lot is expected from President Muhammadu Buhari whose anti-corruption and people-oriented policy disposition is expected to sire a democratic regime that will address the contradictions in the body polity and economy, paving way for greater youth employment in the country. Using a qualitative approach, this study will rely on secondary data from books, journals, academic, newspaper and technical reports, monographs and credible datasets to investigate those active labour market programmes that should be combined with a pragmatic politics of change by the new government in giving hope and a sense of belonging to the precariatised youth class in Nigeria by providing these disenchanted and precarious young Nigerians with decent livelihoods that can wean them off their resort to criminality and antisocial behaviours as survivalist measures to escape the hard economic realities in the country.