Niger Delta Human Development Report - UNDP Nigeria - United ...

Table 6.1: Unemployment and Underemployment Rate in the Niger Delta, 2000
COUNTRY/ UNEMPLOYMENT % UNDEREMPLOYMENT %
STATE Composite Urban Rural Composite Urban Rural
Nigeria 4.7 7.2 3.7 12.9 5.8 16.0
Abia 2.9 8.7 2.4 7.7 NA 8.4
Akwa Ibom 18.2 12.6 18.3 18.5 9.2 18.8
Bayelsa 6.5 13.0 5.5 6.0 NA 6.9
Cross River NA NA NA 16.6 7.3 18.3
Delta 10.3 16.2 8.8 13.0 23.6 10.2
Edo 1.5 7.3 NA 4.6 1.8 5.3
Imo 6.8 2.7 7.2 15.5 21.1 25.0
Ondo 4.1 4.7 3.6 12.9 9.3 15.5
Rivers 19.1 18.2 19.3 14.1 2.7 15.9
Note: An unemployed person did not do any work during the period of survey; an underemployed
person worked less than normal hours for involuntary reasons.
Source: Labour force sample survey December, 2000 FOS/ILO, Federal office of Statistics Statistical News
No. 322, June 2001
of youth restiveness and conflicts. The
percentage of unemployed household
members on the basis of lack of available
work in those states by far surpasses the
average for the region, although equally
high percentage points in Abia, Akwa Ibom,
Cross River and Imo underscore that
unemployment is high across the region.
This obviously has implications for income
inequality and poverty.
The positive correlation between states
earning high revenues with high rates of
people with no available work is striking. It
indicates that in terms of providing
employment, the revenue generated is not
having much impact upon the local
population.
Evidence from the NDDC (2005) findings
reveals that an appreciable portion of
people is disabled (ranging from 7.1 per
cent in Cross River State to 2.6 in Edo
State), while about 1.1 per cent of people
suffer from some form of infirmity. These
vulnerable groups must be incorporated
into any meaningful human development
agenda in the region.
The Informal Sector
The most important issue to consider when
attempting to bolster sustainable livelihoods
is how to enhance the informal sector’s
potential to absorb those without viable
income-generating activities, and to scale
up existing informal enterprises so they
NIGER DELTA HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT
involve a larger number of unemployed
or underemployed persons. The informal
sector accounts for as much as 70 per
cent to 85 per cent of employment in the
Niger Delta. Informal sector workers are
in diverse enterprises, including petty
trading, auto repair, welding, carpentry,
street trading and shoe repairing.
Major characteristics of the informal
sector include low productivity and low
wages. According to Cour (2000), the
informal sector in sub-Saharan Africa
accounts for 75 per cent of employment
but only 25 per cent of income. Abumere
(2005) has argued that of the 70 per cent
of Nigerians classified as poor and living
on less than US $1 a day, over 80 per
cent belong to the informal sector. De
Soto (2000) reckons that the high levels
of poverty in the informal sector may be
accounted for by the dominance of ‘dead
capital’. This is because the land and
houses belonging to the people in the
sector cannot be used as collateral to
improve their creditworthiness, since they
are unable to obtain titles to them.
Women are particularly active in the
informal sector, but their entrepreneurial
activities are mainly small in scale, with a
low-income base and low technological
content. Traditionally, Niger Delta women
were engaged in the cultivation of land
and fishing. Unfortunately, the pollution
and destruction of agricultural land and
waterways, including through oil spills, has
Unemployment is very
pronounced in states
with the highest
incidence of youth
restiveness and conflicts.
High revenues in some
states have not
contributed to increased
employment.
The informal sector
accounts for as much as
85 per cent of
employment in the delta.
But its characteristics
include low productivity
and low wages.
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