Nearly 80 million Nigerian youths are unemployed, while over 1,500 schools have been forced to close in the past two years due to rising insecurity, according to a new report by Plan International Nigeria.
The report, titled “State of the Nigerian Youth Report 2025”, was presented in Abuja by Jonathan Abakpa, Advocacy and Youth Programme Officer at Plan International Nigeria. It highlights worsening conditions facing young people in a country where more than 60 percent of the population is under 30.
Produced in partnership with ActionAid Nigeria and other policy experts, the report was unveiled during the Nigerian Youth Dialogue held to mark International Youth Day. It paints a grim picture of unemployment, insecurity, and wasted opportunities in Africa’s most populous nation.
Abakpa stressed that with over 200 million people and one of the world’s largest youth populations, Nigeria should be a hub of innovation and economic growth. Instead, poverty, poor infrastructure, and lack of opportunities have left millions struggling.
The report noted that about 1.7 million graduates leave tertiary institutions each year, but jobs remain scarce. “This is not just a statistic,” Abakpa said. “It represents shattered dreams and wasted talent. The desperation is pushing many into irregular migration, cybercrime, and other risky coping mechanisms.”
It further disclosed that over 600,000 people have been killed and 2.2 million kidnapped in recent years, with young people being the primary victims. More than 1,500 schools were shut down, leaving one million children without access to education. “Education, which should be a ladder of opportunity, has been violently pulled away from them,” Abakpa warned.
The report also revealed that farming communities have been devastated by violence, with over 77,000 lives lost to tribal conflicts in the past five years. Around 2.6 million people, mostly farmers, have been displaced, worsening food insecurity. UNICEF has warned that as many as 25 million Nigerians now face hunger.
Currently, more than 82.9 million Nigerians—about 40 percent of the population—live in poverty. The report observed that many young people have lost faith in government policies, a trend that could alienate an entire generation if not urgently addressed.
Despite these challenges, the report emphasized that Nigerian youth remain innovators and change-makers. It called for urgent job creation, stronger vocational training, and better connections between entrepreneurship schemes and industries.
Chairman of the House Committee on Youth in Parliament, Hon. Ayodeji Alao-Akala, reaffirmed lawmakers’ commitment to youth-focused policies. He described young Nigerians as the nation’s future and stressed the importance of harnessing their potential for national development.
