PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT OF NATIONAL DIRECTORATE OF EMPLOYMENT ON EMPOWERMENT OF BENEFICIARIES IN SOUTH-EAST ZONE, NIGERIA

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

            1.1           BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Unemployment refers to individuals without job for pay or profit, who are searching and available to be employed for pay or profit in a definite reference periods (International Labour Organisation (ILO), 2019). In Nigeria, the unemployment rate equals the total of persons actively looking for a job as a percentage of the labour force (Trading Economics, 2018). The employment state has become more severe owing to the deterioration of certain industries, disengagement in the civil service, and the fact that extensive employment creation has not taken place notwithstanding the remarkable progress made from non-oil sector (Powell & Treichel, 2008). The condition is also becoming worst due to increase in population. The beginning of unemployment in the country started during the oil boom era in the 1970s. Within the period, the Nigerian administration and persons neglected skills acquisition and use of varied entrepreneurship training that have proficiency to enhance both country's economic ego and individual. A distinctive shift from entrepreneurial practices to paper qualification has increased joblessness in Nigeria (Ekong & Ekong, 2016).

Subsequently, following the economic recession of the 1980s, it became apparent that the days of automatic-white-collar jobs directly after university education disappeared unceremoniously. Consequently, there has been an astral increase in the unemployment level in the country. In 1981 it was 3.8 percent, it rose to 4.2 percent in 1982 and reached its maximum worth in 1988 when it hit 11 percent. However, these information were conventional estimates because of the gross incompetence of the country labour market and the fact that not all employment seekers get registered. By the completion of 1985, the degree of unemployment was about 10 percent in most urban areas. In rural areas, the rate was about 3 percent in the same year (Aniekan, undated).

National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed that the level of unemployment amid financially energetic Nigerians within the ages of 15-24 was 37.7 percent in 2011. However, the unemployment level for the age range of 25-44 years was 22.4 percent. Also, the level of unemployment for persons within the age range of 45 to 59, stood at 18.0 percent while it was 21.4 percent for the age range of 60 and 64 (NBS, 2012). The interpretation of this is that youths are mostly affected by unemployment and are, as such, more susceptible to its associated consequences (NBS, 2012). World Bank also reported that the unemployment rate among Nigerians between the ages of 15-24 was 13.8 percent in 2011; 13.7 percent in 2012; 13.6 percent in 2013; and also13.6 percent in 2014 (World Bank, 2016). Proof shows that when jobs are less, youths are generally seen unemployed (ILO), 2008).

Currently, NBS supported the above statement through its report that the country's unemployment level increased from14.2 percent to 18.8 percent in 2017. It also endorsed that the labour population of Nigeria has grown to 85.1 million from 83.9 million between second quarter and third quarter of 2017, providing additional workforce of 1.2 million (Vanguard, 2017). Also NBS indicated that the aggregate of persons that are fully employed reduced from 52.7 million to 5.1 million in third quarter of 2017. There was an increase in the population of those who are without jobs or under employed in the second quarter from 13.6 million to 15.9 million and 17.7 million to 18.0 million in third quarter of 2017 (NBS, 2017). This implies that efforts made by the government to create more jobs are not yielding results as expected. The information provided indicates that the percentage of unemployment has scaled uninterruptedly within nine quarters of the year.

Consequently, the lack of employment has generated a platform for social vices for some Nigerian university graduates and school leavers. Long -term unemployment is now a characteristic of the Nigerian labour market. This is promoting criminal behaviour like car snatching, robbery, oil bunkering, prostitution and vandalization among the youths (Amire & Ngwama, 2015). The idea of entrepreneurship development for employment generation has also been considered as a solution to reducing unemployment and poverty in numerous areas. This, therefore, submits that social and economic development of any nation depends to a large extent on alternative robust and vibrant sector driven by entrepreneurship.

The belief in this fact has rebuffed several initiatives by the government to embrace the establishment of more Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), reinforce the administrative capacity of the existing institutions and working out some modalities to provide easy access to capital for entrepreneurship development (Ugoani & Ibeenwo, 2015). Also, Smith & Chimucheka (2014) stated that entrepreneurship is regarded as the economic engine necessary for economic growth, poverty alleviation and reduction, and job creation. There is, therefore, no doubt that an association subsists between economic growth and entrepreneurship level of a nation.

Entrepreneurship is the process through which an individual becomes an entrepreneur by carrying out an invention, funds and shows professional expertise to convert inventions into valuable goods (Shane, 2010). This can give rise to the birth of a new establishment or maybe an attempt to stimulate a developed establishment in reaction to an apparent opportunity. Entrepreneurship was also defined by Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), 2012) as the creation of new enterprise like a new industry, self-employment or extension of existing enterprise by a person, group of persons or a developed institution. Entrepreneurship is the method through which persons become mindful of business proprietorship as a choice or viable substitute, develop concepts for trade, study the procedure of being an entrepreneur and carry out initiation and development of that enterprise (Onuekwusi, Odoemela &Ube, 2017). Also, entrepreneurship involves generating value by attracting a distinctive array of resources to take an advantage of an opportunity. Because entrepreneurs cannot control every required resources, pursuing the opportunity demands bridging the resource gap (Ugoani & Ibeenwo, 2015).

An entrepreneur is also considered as an economic instrument that can perceive market openings and assembles the needed factors of production to exploit targeted opportunities (Van Aardt, Van Aardt, Bezuidenhout & Mumba, 2008). Entrepreneurs are those individuals who seek to build value, through the creation or extension of economic activity, by detecting and manipulating new products, processes or markets (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD, 2010). Entrepreneurial development is the method of improving knowledge and entrepreneurial skills via organized training and institution-building programmes (Onuekwusi et al., 2017). All these efforts are geared toward empowering individuals, groups of people or organizations.

Skill development has become a strategic requirement in building a system of satisfactory capacity, towards safeguarding equitable access to all, particularly the youth, disadvantaged groups, minorities, the poor, women, people with disabilities, dropouts, and those working in the unorganized sector, reducing disparity between demand and supply of skills, expanding skill training programme to meet the changing requirements of the emerging knowledge economy by ensuring quality and relevance of training, building true market place competencies rather than mere qualification. This presumes that vocational and technical education institutions could react to the diverse academic and socio-economic background and train the client for lucrative employment and sustainable livelihoods. Accordingly, the susceptible and youths could be empowered through technical or vocational education (Ikegwu et al, 2014).

Skills acquisition is described as a method of eliminating hunger and poverty, thereby generating opportunity for employment and wealth creation (Ikegwu et al, 2014). Its development has been a method of transforming materials by man from earliest time. But for development to take place according to Diigbo (2017), it takes trained hands and minds to apply knowledge and techniques effectively. This implies that an individual could be empowered through skill acquisition. Skill is the aptitude to excel in doing something through training and practice. Its attainment is through development of a new practice or skill through experience and training (Encarta dictionary, 2009).

Empowerment can also be defined as a collaborating procedure by which people gain or experience individual and social transformation enabling them to decide to achieve influence over the organisation and institution which affect their lives and the communities in which they live (Ikegwu, et al, 2014). This suggests that empowerment gives authority to an individual to engage themselves profitably. It increases their ability to choose opportunity and convert the opportunity to results in order to build values and enhance the effectiveness of its use within the environment. Empowerment is a social process that assist individuals to be in charge of their lives. It is a method that nurtures power in people for practice in their lives and communities by working on matters considered important. However, creation of lucrative and productive employment with good working condition built on skill development to accommodate the increasing labour force is a critical issue to consider in the economic development of Nigeria (Amire & Ngwama, 2015). However, Adebisi & Oni, (2012) noted that training systems in developing countries generally and in Africa in particular, are inadequate in supporting those seeking for paid work or self-employment.

Indeed, different programmes have been used by past and present governments over period to handle unemployment, which has been a critical factor, since the days of Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP). The then military government of Nigeria made unemployment an important factor in its social policy as an independent country. Government early plan was to create jobs for the youths who are interested in agriculture through programmes likes Directorate of Food, Road and Rural Infrastructure (DIFRRI), Operation Feed the Nation (OFN) (Akande, 2014). It becomes important to empower people through entrepreneurship and skill acquisition, since people are key agents for economic development, social and technological change.

Faced with the foregoing, Nigeria created National Directorate of Employment (NDE) in March 1986 with its programmes formally launched in January 1987. The main objective of National Directorate of Employment (NDE) was the responsibility of job creation to the unemployed in Nigeria. The programme was aimed at designing and articulating policies to tackle general unemployment issues in the economy. This includes obtaining and maintaining a data bank on declared vacancies and employment in the economy to reduce job search cost. The activities of NDE cover all areas of the economy (Ekong & Ekong, 2016).

Some of the skills or trade as implied include: fashion design, welding, computer repairs, plumbing, GSM repairs, catering, bead making, hairdressing, carpentry, barbing, aluminum fabrication, snail rearing, crop production, hat making, vulcanizing, electrical installation, refrigerator/air conditioner repairs, auto electrical, poultry production etc. (NDE, Anambra State Office, 2018). Adebisi & Oni (2012) promoted that attending the training requirements of intending apprentices of National Directorate of Employment would make it significant to the predicament of the unemployed. It, therefore, becomes necessary that entrepreneurship and skill acquisition development need to be supported and improved at all levels for empowering the unemployed in society.

Following the discussion above the study assessed the performance of National Directorate of Employment in empowering people through job creation, entrepreneurship and skill acquisition.

1.2       STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

Unemployment is among the greatest challenges confronting Nigeria and its citizen and the highest impediment to the search for sustainable socio-economic growth (NEEDS, 2006). In Nigeria, the continual increase in the rate of unemployment and abject poverty is frightening and has led to increase in economic crisis, insecurity, social violence and political instability.

The level of unemployment has increased tremendously. The population of unemployed youth in rural areas rose from 2.9 million in 2008 to about 5.9 million in 2012 (Akande, 2014). Currently there are about 6.8 million unemployed people in rural areas, while urban areas have a pool of 4.7 million unemployed people (Shakirudeen, 2017). The assertion that the significance of rural poverty is underscored by the fact that as much as 45 to 80% of national population reside in the rural areas (Nwachukwu, 2007) becomes true. The Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its report confirmed a consistent pattern of worsening unemployment in the country, rising from 9.9 percent in 2015 to 19.70 per cent in the last quarter of 2016. That 19.70 percent of the nation’s labour force is idle is bad enough. But worse and extremely dangerous is the fact that more than 50 percent of that army of idle citizens is peopled by those between the ages of 15 and 35 (NBS, 2017).

In the past, the government's employment policies have aimed at promoting self-employment for alternative job creation to formal employment. However, these efforts have not worked as expected (Atiti, 2016). Though, entrepreneurship activities and innovative resourcefulness in Nigeria have established enterprises in areas such as transportation, building and construction, information agriculture/agro-allied business, telecom, hospitality and tourism business, solid minerals, etc. However, Anyadike, et al, (2012) stated that with these and other natural resources notwithstanding, Nigeria is rated as one of the poorest countries in the world and has one of the highest rates of youth unemployment in Sub-Sahara Africa, despite its alleged strong economic growth. The most disturbing part is that the unemployment figures revealed a clear pattern of failure of government policies aimed at dealing with the challenge.

 Human development will grossly be undermined and impaired without adequate provision for employment (NEEDS, 2004). As a result, it is becoming progressively hard for people to find jobs even in the public sector. The pieces of evidence in the country cum state's unemployment position and the complementing evidence of employment test for recruitment into the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) conducted across the country which consisted of over 56, 000 applicants show that a reappraisal of the country's agencies on employment creation is important. The study revealed that the exercise claimed the lives of about 16 applicants due to the stampede ensuing at the different test centres while many were left injured (Ekong &Ekong, 2016). The level of unemployment in Nigeria is so deteriorating that a crowd jostle for few vacancies. The newly launched jobs portal of the Federal Government “N - Power.gov.ng” recorded over 400,000 successful registrations within 36 hours after opening for 500, 000 teaching job positions (The Nation, 2016). This stresses that the administration of the country must react to the occasion through policy interferences set up organizational structure that will be in control for improving skills of its citizenry (Amire & Ngwama, 2015).

The inability to provide employment opportunities has a negative social, political, and economic implications for a state. There will be no healthy economic growth in the country if programmes and policies that will reduce unemployment are not developed and implemented to help people to become self-reliant. Also, Agbarevo, et al., (2006) opined that entrepreneurial talents and capabilities abound in all communities, but their translation to innovative action depends on appropriate stimuli and environment, and these stimuli can be generated through training. Given this assessing, an organisation with the saddled responsibility of creating employment opportunities for its unemployed citizens is not out of place.

The Federal Government created National Directorate of Employment in a bid to create employment for its citizens and to bridge the skill gap. The NDE through its training programmes seeks to equip participants with the necessary competencies for self-employment and other opportunities. The organisation has established and reformed many programmes to empower its citizens. This is corresponding to its objectives, mission statement and goal of generating jobs and skill acquisition. However, notwithstanding its years of operation, the rate of unemployment in Nigeria keeps increasing. NDE has been grappling with the nagging issue of employment creation through its various department like employment counseling services and job linkages, enterprise creation and entrepreneurial training, rural employment promotion, Vocational skill acquisition training, labour-based transient works and collaboration with other agencies among others (Emejor, 2012). The question is has NDE adequately performed its functions by measures of the indices available?

Specifically, it is against this background that assessing the performance of NDE programme in empowering people becomes necessary. The study established skills that are transferred to the beneficiaries, what are the benefits of the skills on the beneficiaries, how effective are they in performing their mandate and what factors are limiting NDE performance from achieving its objectives.

1.3       RESEARCH QUESTIONS

This study was designed to assess the performance of the National Directorate of Employment. The following questions were considered relevant.

1.   What are the types of skills transferred to the beneficiaries of the NDE scheme?

2.   What is the level of participation of beneficiaries of NDE scheme?

3.   What are the perceived factors affecting the participation of beneficiaries in the NDE scheme?

4.   What is the performance status of NDE in discharging their duties?

5.   What are the benefits derived from participating in NDE programme?

6.   How effective is the performance of NDE scheme on the empowerment of its beneficiaries?

7.   What are the constraints influencing performance of NDE programme?

1.4       OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The broad objective of the study was to assess the performance of National Directorate of Employment on the empowerment of its beneficiaries in South-East Zone, Nigeria.

The specific objectives of the study were to:

(i)             determine types of skills transferred to the beneficiaries of the NDE scheme;

(ii)            examine the level of participation of beneficiaries of NDE;

(iii)         ascertain factors affecting the participation of beneficiaries in the NDE scheme;

(iv)          assess the performance status of NDE in discharging their duties;

(v)           find out benefits derived from participating in NDE programme;

(vi)          assess the perceived effectiveness of performance of NDE scheme on the empowerment of its beneficiaries; and

(vii)        ascertain constraints influencing the performance of NDE on the empowerment of its beneficiaries in the study area.

1.5       RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

The research hypotheses were:

Ho₁:     There is no significant difference in the mean ratings of factors affecting the participation of beneficiaries in the NDE scheme across the three States under study.

Ho₂:     There is no significant difference in the mean ratings of the performance status of NDE scheme across the three States under study.

Ho₃:     There is no significant difference in the mean rating of perceived effectiveness in the performance of NDE scheme across the three States under study.

Ho₄:     There is no significant relationship between factors influencing performance of NDE and their performance status.

Ho_5:        There is no significant difference in the level of participation of NDE beneficiaries in the three states.

1.6       JUSTIFICATION OF THE STUDY

The key essence for job creation, entrepreneurship development and skill acquisition is to develop the human capital by focusing on effective training programme and support to help individuals excel and upgrade their skills to become entrepreneurs. To this end, people are to be introduced to an effective entrepreneurial skill development scheme. The present study was conducted with a major objective of assessing the performance of NDE in the South-East zone of Nigeria concerning their mandate in curbing the level of unemployment in the country. The result of the research would therefore generate information for effective and efficient use of NDE scheme for job creation, mobilization and empowerment of the unemployed. This will enhance proper engagement of people into the workforce to increase the level of empowerment, reduce poverty, rural-urban drift and subsequently increase economic growth and development of the country.

This study examined the different skills transferred to beneficiaries of NDE programme given the market trend. This will help them to place focus on demand driven skills to ensure its marketability than supply driven skills. The level of participation and factors affecting participation of the beneficiaries in the various programme of NDE were evaluated to determine areas where people thrive more and concentrate on them. It will reduce unwieldy choice of programmes resulting in funds being sparingly distributed among projects. This will strengthen the methods employed by NDE to train its beneficiaries for maximum benefit and ensure the sustainability of such programmes.

The level of performance and factors influencing performance of the organization was investigated to determine the performance status of NDE in the study area. This serves as monitoring and evaluating tool to identify its area of strength and weakness in the pursuit of job creation, entrepreneurial skill training for both self-employment and paid-employment. It will enable the public to be knowledgeable about NDE activities, programmes and policies for job creation. People will be empowered with the accurate information which will help them acquire the essential training they need to benefit from NDE in order to be employed.

Constraints affecting the performance of NDE was examine in order to proffer solution to its challenges and ensure effectiveness and efficiency of NDE in harnessing its activities to impact on the life of the beneficiaries and address the increase in the level of unemployment in the country. This is to ensure that skills acquired are transformed into tangible goods for economic empowerment. This will help to plan and fashion out better ways of sustaining and increasing its productivity. There is, therefore, no doubt that the study has played a very vital role in helping NDE to perform better in achieving its mandate.

1.7       SCOPE OF THE STUDY

To keep the research manageable, it considered the performance of NDE programme in empowering the unemployed from 2010 to 2017as backup information for the primary data collected. This was achieved through assessing the performance of the four core programme of NDE: Small Scale Enterprise Programme, Vocational Skill Development Programme, Special Public Works Programme, Rural Employment Promotion and job centre in South-east zone.

1.8       DEFINITION OF TERMS

Assessment: The process of determining the value of something.

Employment: Having a job for which you earn income.

Empowerment: It is a method of giving people more control to access and transform their lives through their actions, attitude, beliefs and value system.

Entrepreneur: An entrepreneur is an individual who creates wealth by running businesses.

Entrepreneurship: It is a procedure of transforming initiative to grow a new enterprise or diversify an existing business or enterprise.

Performance: The act of carrying out a duty.

Scheme: An official plan that is intended to help people in some way, for example providing education or training.

Skill Acquisition: Skill acquisition is the capacity to learn in a specific trade and become expert in it.

Skill: Skill can be described as a trade which a person has learned.

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