Establishing the Connection between Youth Unemployment and Insecurity in the North-Central Nigeria, 2008 – 2020

Youth unemployment in Nigeria, particularly in the north-central region has assumed a very cancerous disposition culminating into series of security challenges which have claimed many lives and properties. In the north-central region, the youths are the worst hit when it comes to the issue of unemployment at a very alarming rate. A glimpse at rush into the north-central states by job seekers and unproductive youths portray the catastrophic and ludicrousness of the youth unemployed problem. However, the governments of Kogi, Kwara, Niger, Benue, Nasarawa and Plateau states have continued to strive to contain the disastrous effect of youth unemployment by providing various youth empowerment initiatives and security measures to extricate the prevailing security challenges. In spite of governments effort to steam the menace of both youth unemployment and insecurity in the region remain abortive because youth unemployment and insecurity is on the rise. It is based on this that this paper sought to find out how governments across the region in collaboration with federal government have fared in engaging youth unemployment with youth empowerment initiatives in the north-central region which is the study area. The study adopted survey research methods. The study employed both primary and secondary sources in generating its data and utilized tables and for data presentation and the simple percentage for analysis. Adopted frustration-aggression and human needs as theoretical underpinning to explain the topic under investigation. Findings from the study revealed that there is strong connection between youth unemployment and insecurity in the north-central Nigeria. it also revealed that frequent herders/farmers clashes, lack of proper monitoring and evaluation, corruption, lack of political will, official mismanagement while its revealed that poverty, politics, ethnicity and religion were some of the factors responsible for security challenges in the north-central States.