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Writer's pictureNdubuaku Kanayo

Unemployment and Mental Health in Nigeria: a Sociological Account


As a young Nigerian, I have always wanted to understand human behavioural patterns and societal trends. This curiosity for human relationships and culture led me to study sociology at the undergraduate level. As a sociologist, I was trained to determine and treat mental health with an understanding that social variables in our environment influence health and illness. 

 

Over time, the important role of the social environment and its effects on mental health and illness gained more traction in the fields of aetiology and therapy. Some indicators of good mental health include self-efficacy, autonomy, generational reliance, the realisation of the capacity to reach one’s intellectual and emotional potential, competency, and subjective well-being. 

 

Understanding the relationship between mental illness and social issues cannot be traced back to one single source of origin. Emile Durkheim, a sociologist, contributed to findings in this field as results from his empirical investigation revealed a significant association between deplorable social conditions and mental health. Unlike other early ideas, he asserts that mental illnesses are social illnesses. 


Unemployment and Mental Health: Anything for the boys?  

 

‘Chairman, anything for the boys?’ I asked a long-time friend and mentor after meeting him at the bus stop. I told him about my job search after graduating from university, and he advised me to keep searching and updating my skills. 

 

I had just graduated from the university that year after studying Sociology and Anthropology and was preparing for my National Youth Service, a compulsory one-year public service for graduates in Nigeria. Like every graduate after university, I was uncertain about what to do and how to face the outside world.  

 

While waiting for my call-up letter, I joined an iron processing company as a casual worker and remained optimistic for better days. Later that year, I enlisted for the compulsory public service year and picked up a teaching job. While working on the job, I had this ongoing thought of ‘what next?’. I have heard many tales of unemployment among young Nigerian graduates and wondered what my fate would be after my compulsory service year. 


Youth Unemployment in Nigeria

 

Most unemployed youths in Nigeria within the age bracket of 18 and 35 years are faced with the precarious challenges of life that further plunge them into the vicious cycle of poverty eroding their confidence and mental health. 

 

Chronic youth unemployment remains evident in Nigeria, as data shows that the unemployment rate stood at 5.3% as of the first quarter of 2024, indicating a third consecutive increase since the second quarter of 2023. The misery index— the sum of inflation and unemployment rates - rose to 36.9 % from 30.5% in the first quarter of 2024. With one of the world's highest misery indexes, many Nigerians are experiencing weak purchasing power and a cost-of-living crisis due to rising inflation and youth unemployment. 

 

When discussing mental health, it is important to note that it is more than just the absence of mental illnesses. The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines it as a complete mental, bodily, and social well-being, not just the absence of infirmity or disease. 

 

Mental health and illness can be viewed from either an interactionist viewpoint or from a structuralist standpoint. The interactionist viewpoint focuses on understanding how people behave in face-to-face interactions and how circumstances and people are categorised in specific ways. This viewpoint believes that there are several drawbacks for a person once they have been classified as mentally ill, as it is believed that every action they take, is proof of their mental health.


On the other hand, the structuralist standpoint believes that a range of material and cultural factors that structure society contribute to poor mental health and that there is a social pattern to mental health as mental illness cannot stem purely from individual or biological factors. 


Any way you choose to look at it, the sociology of mental health is primarily concerned with the social construction of mental health and the distribution of mental illness by social groupings such as gender, class, and ethnicity. 


Although during my service year anxiety would always creep in after I finished classes, I looked forward to life after service. I was always on my phone applying for any job opportunity that came my way as the fear of leaving service and going back home unemployed kept me awake at night.  I also made it a point of duty to reach out to former colleagues, classmates and relatives, as I tried to keep them aware of my status post-service. 

 

With the magnitude of poverty and hunger in the land, the issue of unemployment remains one of the biggest challenges facing the country today. Despite major reforms that have been undertaken to restore economic stability in Nigeria, the unemployment rate has not experienced many improvements. The desperation and frustration that come with unemployment create a fertile ground for restiveness, internet fraud, political instability, kidnapping, and other forms of social problems. 

 

Factors Responsible for Youth Unemployment in Nigeria  

Although a myriad of variables are responsible for youth unemployment in Nigeria, evidence shows that factors like high population growth, lack of quality education, corruption and red tapism, high cost-of-living, and insecurity, are predominant factors to blame amongst other variables. 


Due to corruption in the public service, there is always a refusal to retire from active service and often, new job openings are not publicly advertised for all to apply. With rising inflation figures, unemployed youths in the country are unable to attend to their immediate needs such as rent payments, food, groceries and phone bills —leaving them in a frustrated or depressed state. 


I was lucky to secure a job with a media outfit after the end of my service year and my journey into the labor market began in earnest. While on the job, my earnings were not enough to take care of my immediate expenses. Therefore, I decided to take up a freelance role with other firms. As an in-house correspondent, I was using my time on the job to fight feelings of depression, inadequacy, and lack.  

 

The job exposed me to learning new things and I discovered that the more I learnt, the more earning potential I gained. This encouraged me to continuously acquire new knowledge and information. Working would always reduce feelings of depression and anxiety for me, as I narrowed my focus towards delivering on the job.  

 

While the abundance of new knowledge and experiences kept me going, the supportive tutelage of my supervisors and editors also contributed to helping me scale through daily. All these contributed to improving my mental health post-graduation as I figured out how to overcome depression and anxiety through continuous learning and development. 

 

Since a high unemployment rate increases violent behaviour, suicidal thoughts, physiological disorders, and stress, intervention programs that address the psychological and economic deprivation associated with unemployment must be put in place.  

 

Welfare packages should be rolled out to unemployed youths in Nigeria to help cushion the lack of funds. By providing adequate welfare benefits for the unemployed youths in the country, the impact of mental health issues associated with unemployment would be put to rest. Membership in social  organisations such as sports groups, trade unions, professional bodies, churches, or political organisations should also be encouraged, as this would serve as a strong support system for unemployed youths.  

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