ABSTRACT
Energy is being regarded as an essential resource for the satisfaction of human needs. It is the satisfaction of the daily human needs, which cannot be achieved without energy that brings comfort and convenience to human life. This study examines the effect of energy crisis on employment in Nigeria. A sample of 200 unemployed youths was selected with random sampling technique being employed to carry out the study. The study has the following as its research objectives: to establish the effects of energy crisis on employment in Nigeria, to survey the effects of energy crisis towards poverty reduction in Nigeria and to investigate the prevalence of energy crisis on employment in Nigeria.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Access to electricity is presumed to be a tool for poverty alleviation, sustainabledevelopment and the attainment of goalsset. According to Salam(2006) energy is the indispensable force driving all economics activities. Ekpo (2013) stressedthat the positive multiplier effect of constant power supply cannot be overemphasized. However, there is a need to foster the relationship and the impact of electricity on economicgrowth in the nation. This has led many to question the conventional neoclassical productionfunction analysis where land, labour, capital are recognized as the main factors of production.Consequently, there is an effort made to discover the relationship between energy and theother factors of production from which electricity is now used as a complement or substitute other factors ofproduction.This energy crisis has worsened the economic development process in the nation and has alsocrippled the effort in achieving a sustainable economic growth and employment generation.
Electricity plays as a key role for the advancement infrastructure as well as in the development of the economy through its relationship with the other sectors. It is imperative to note that any shake in the energy sector will definitely affect the level of productivity and employment opportunity and national security (Uduma, 2009). Ekpo (2013) advised that government should try all their efforts in ensuring that energy crisis becomes a thing of history in our country.The impact of the energy crisis on the Nigerian masses is becoming worrisome. The ugly development has made the cost of living to skyrocket. While public electricity supply has become a worrying issue in spite of more than $16bn invested in the sector. These have made many organizations to fold up and thereby compounding the woes of persistence unemployment in the country. Government workers are not faring any better. Many state governors and local government chairmen owe their workers a backlog of salaries all because of the fall in the price of crude oil in the international market.
Development in the economic aspect of Nigeria has resulted to the presence of some infrastructure in the electricity, roads, railway, aviation, agricultural and oil and gas sectors. It is a pity that declines in these infrastructures cause the domestic earning to be minimal and as well has a negative effect in the nation’s foreign exchange reserves. Even when there isan increase in the oil price, it is expected that Nigeria as a producer nation should have more income to execute her budgetary plans especially in providing these infrastructure. But the reverse is the case, because whatever income earned through sale of crude oil energy resource is ploughed back in the importation of the refined products of the same crude oil such as petrol, kerosene, diesel etc.This situation makes it impossible to install more oil and gas infrastructure such as refineries.Fall in the price of crude oil as beingexperienced in Nigeria now makes the country to go brokeand as a result makes it difficult for the country to pay workers’ salaries and thereby making it difficult for the country to even think of infrastructure now. This study investigates the effect of energy crisis on employment in Nigeria.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
The economic distress has significantly affected many homesand of which many are on the verge of collapse as a result of the breadwinners’ inability to cater for their families as before. Many children have dropped out of school. There has been several issues of untimely death happening in the nation due to the financial incapacitation of the to access health care services. The phenomenon of suicide is also on the increase. High dependency ratio by the few who are employed has worsened the lives of average Nigerian employees. Man-hours are lost at filling stations queuing for petrol. Illegal hoarding of premium motor spirit by end users have led to several fire incidences with human casualties.
1.3 Research Questions
These are some of the questions the study is designed to answer:
i) What are the effects of energy crisis on employment in Nigeria?
ii) What are the effects of energy crisis towards poverty reduction in Nigeria?
iii) What is the prevalence of energy crisis on employment in Nigeria?
1.4 Objectives of the Study
The main objective of this study investigates the effect of energy crisis on employment in Nigeria. The specific objectives and are:
i) To establish the effects of energy crisis on employment in Nigeria.
ii) To survey the effects of energy crisis towards poverty reduction in Nigeria.
iii) To investigate the prevalence of energy crisis on employment in Nigeria.
1.5 Research Hypotheses
The research hypotheses to be tested include:
i) There is no significant correlation between energy crisis and employment in Nigeria.
ii) There is no significant relationship between the effects of energy crisis and poverty reduction.
1.6 Significance of the Study
This study is designed toinvestigate the effect of energy crisis on employment in Nigeria. It is also intended to examine the contributions of power sector to the economic growth of the country and also investigate the contributions of energy to poverty reduction in Nigeria. This study will be useful to the government in the area of provision of social amenities to its citizens. It will serve as a foundation upon which further research works in this area can be conducted.
1.7 Scope of the Study
This study investigatesthe effect of energy crisis on employment in Nigeria. It will therefore be carried out among the unemployed youths and parts of the samples shall also be drawn from the industries that rely heavily on energy for their operations in the country.
1.8 Limitation of the study
The fact that this ‘theeffect of energy crisis on employment in Nigeria’ has not been fully researched on by researchers made it a bit stressful for the researcher and was also faced with the problem of finance as the researcher did not have enough funds to get the required stationery for the work.
1.9 Definitions of Terms
The following terms were used in the course of this study:
Employment:act of hiring a person to provide services to a company on a regular basis in exchange for compensation and who does not provide these services as part of an independent business.
Energy crisis:An energy crisis is any significant bottleneck in the supply of energy resources to an economy. In popular literature, it often refers to one of the energy sources used at a certain time and place, in particular those that supply national electricity grids or those used as fuel in vehicles.
Power sector:The electric power industry is the generation, transmission, distribution and sale of electric power to the general public. The electrical industry started with introduction of electric lighting in 1882. Throughout the 1880s and 1890s, growing economic and safety concerns lead to the regulation of the industry.
