Youth Unemployment and National Security: A Study of Benue State 1999–2013

Abstract

This research was set out to examine the relationship between youth unemployment and national security particularly in Benue State from 1999 to 2013. Data for the purpose of the research task were obtained from secondary sources such as the use of textbooks, journal articles, newspapers, magazines, publications and statistical data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in Nigeria. The research identifies the major causes, effects and consequences of youth unemployment on the security and safety of Benue State, as well as the socio-economic development environment in the state. The findings reveal that security in Benue State is largely attributable to the alarming rate of unemployment. The study recommends that youth improvement programmes, investment in education, infrastructural building, creating socio-economic and political environment, and check on rural-urban migration and ammunition control are pivotal to checking youth restiveness and insecurity in the state.