Ghana has conducted population and housing censuses on five occasions, namely, 1960, 1970, 1984, 2000 and 2010. These exercises were able to reveal the demographics of the country, as well as the status of the people in terms of the houses and conditions in which they live. In spite of the resources spent on these exercises, the state has not been able to determine unemployment figures in exact terms.

We have always been used to estimates of unemployed people, although the statistics of the population are known.

It is difficult to determine whether the unemployment figures are left out deliberately in order not to scare the people with the alarming figures.

What is worrying is that whereas the state is able to tell the number of people employed in the formal sector, officials of the Ghana Statistical Service are not able to tell us the number of people in the informal sector.

Unless the officials tell us the censuses do not capture the unemployment rate, it is difficult to appreciate why the state will spend money to count people but will not capture unemployed people in society, although figures on the employed are known.

DEFINITION:  Unemployment occurs when people who are without work are actively seeking work. The unemployment rate is a measure of the prevalence of unemployment and it is calculated as a percentage by dividing the number of unemployed individuals by all individuals currently in the labor force (Wikipedia). This economic situation consequently can lead to a recession or a recession also causes unemployment, either case is true.

Acquiring an educational certificate has become yet another piece to just add to your “resume” rather than as an opportunity to seek and get employment. Whilst minority of the Ghanaian youth and graduates are employed, a section of it is underemployed (employed in fields which are contrary to skills learned) and the greater percentage today remains unemployed and these two situations do not differ from each other.

It is rather sad to realize that after the University, most youths still depend on parents for daily upkeep; this has made many to lose their respect in the family. Some too have become beggars as they hop from one Auntie and uncle to the other in order to get some money for their daily upkeep.

To avoid this embarrassment, most of our youth today specifically graduates (S.H.S and Tertiary) are into the infamous Internet Fraud whilst those who want to gamble genuinely are into the popular gambling “SUPERBET”. What has triggered this recent choice by the youth has been the difficulties that our leaders have put us through as a nation. One would ask what super bet is?

We had an interaction with a graduate and this was his explanation and I couldn’t have disagreed. “the game is played like this, you predict and bet on the team playing, your predictions should be based on your choice of team and who wins, the amount you use as bet determines your gain provided your predicted team carries the day”. You bet with a small amount and end up getting lots of money.

The Ghanaian youth has found this very lucrative compared to employment from private owned enterprises and government institutions and far better than being unemployed. The betting companies are enormous including supabet, soccabet, Eurobet, Betaway, Safaribet and Eazibet. All that is required in the game is “Faith” in a team. 

The frustration and desperation do not get worse than when a graduate has wasted money on printing application letters and CV’s and submitted to companies only to end up not being called for an interview.

At times, we do ask whether the receptionists do not forward the application documents to the HR department. Gambling has now become prevalent and this is no fault of the youth as there are no jobs to accommodate them.

Though there is no statistical record of the current rate of unemployment in the nation, we can confidently say, it has been at its worse for the past three years.

Friends we had on campus in the year 2002 to 2011 and who happen to have fortunately graduated within that period can confidently boast of a secured and a permanent job and they didn’t have to struggle before getting such jobs, however, from 2012 to date, things have changed, its either you are unemployed or underemployed.

Now graduates are being exploited from left, right and center as almost all private firms have made it a point to make working conditions tiresome and additionally pay low wages - low enough to be given to S.H.S graduates. We do not know if these firms have come to a consensus but it appears the wage they all offer is pegged around 150 to 300 Ghana cedis, we ask, what was the essence of the degree if it fetches such scanty amount as salary when most of us paid thousands of Ghana cedis in total to get a certificate at the end.

With such a story, the focused individual wants to get his life going, and to support such a scanty salary, the bet is the alternative. So in all, the Fifa bet is not only played by the unemployed but even the employed as well whose salary cannot take him home.

Surplus labour is added on each year as students graduate and there are no additional jobs to absorb them. What is the essence of building more schools and improving the educational sector if it’s not backed by industrial growth? We live in a dead economy, perhaps, which needs resurrection from the hand of economic oppressors.

The youth is ready to work to better his  life and to enhance economic growth in the country.

The way forward is an improved industrial sector, providing more secure jobs to bring glory to our certificates.

We can make it happen, God gave us the brain to use for good deeds, and not economic exploitations.

The Ghanaian youth only hopes his destiny is in the hands of a political generational thinker of which a change in governance may necessitate it.

...........SIGNED.............

Critical Thinkers International
[Creative Minds; Changing The World]

Criticalthinkersintl@gmail.com

www.criticalthinkersghana.blogspot.com

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