Nigerian government offers money & jobs to the youth ahead of demos inspired by Kenya's gen Z

Ahead of a planned nationwide protest in Nigeria over bad governance, high cost of living and unemployment, the government of Nigeria has rolled out several initiatives believed to aimed at quelling public anger.

The government has offered several employment opportunities targeting the youth in the state-oil company.

After close to a decade without opening up jobs for the youth, Nigeria's state oil firm on Friday published nationwide job vacancies.

The vacancies announcement posted on Twitter came after close to a decade and was met by speculation that it is part of the government’s initiatives to lessen public anger amid acute unemployment.

Shortly after the jobs were announced, eager jobseekers submitted their applications in their thousands.

An NNPC Ltd spokesperson confirmed that the company’s website crashed as a result of the flood of applications.

In addition to the jobs, the government relaunched a 110 billion naira ($70 million) youth investment fund, seeking to spur investment and generate jobs for the youth.

The fund that was launched in 2020 was formed to provide grants to the youth.

Despite the youth ministry announcing that the programme would be revived, little activity had been noted on that front until the calls for protests fueled by activists gained momentum.

While the government maintains that the initiative is part of its plans to address the challenges faced by the country’s youth, activist believe that it is all in reaction to the planned protests.

The week also saw lawmakers pass a new minimum wage that saw the amount that the least-paid worker more than double.

The minimum wage had remained low despite a sharp increase in the prices of basic commodities.

READ: Nigerian youth plan 10 days of nationwide protests inspired by Kenya's gen Z

Inspired by Kenya’s youth-led protests that saw the Finance Bill 2024 rejected with President William Ruto announcing drastic changes in his administration to align with the expectations of Kenyans, the youth in Nigeria have taken to social media.

Dubbed #EndBadGovernanceinNigeria2024 and EndBadGovernance2024, the protests seek to call the government of President Bola Tinubu to order as they take to the streets to protest against bad governance.

They further accuse him of crippling the economy of the West African nation.

Ahead of planned protests, religious clerics, traditional rulers and other prominent Nigerians have prevailed upon the youth and activists to shelve their planned protests.