This document discusses how French language education can help reduce youth unemployment in Nigeria. It begins by defining key terms like education, language, youth, and unemployment. It then reviews literature on the challenges youth face with unemployment and how proficiency in additional languages like French can expand employment opportunities. While French education provides benefits, it also faces challenges in Nigeria like lack of funding and support. The document concludes that acquiring French language skills can empower youth to be self-reliant and reduce unemployment, and recommends improving funding for French education and career guidance programs.

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REDUCING YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT IN NIGERIA THROUGH FRENCH
LANGUAGE EDUCATION
NANDI SALOME ISHAYA
DEPARTMENT OF FRENCH
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, GINDIRI
PLATEAU STATE
08068901485
ishayanandi@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
Corruption and youth unemployment in the world, especially in Nigeria, are of great concern.
These could be the causes of instability and terrorism in Nigeria as a nation. Without any doubt,
the productive group in any nation is its youth and once this group is unoccupied, the society
would be a den of vices. One of the causes of this could be unemployment; for an idle mind is the
devil’s workshop. Therefore, in a bid to obtain a sustainable livelihood, corrupt persons would
find the unemployed handy for thuggery. The main concern of this paper is how to reduce youth
unemployment which when addressed, terrorism would be minimized or manageable and the
productive group in Nigeria would be productive indeed. This trend of unemployment could be
reduced through French language education which is the thrust of this paper. This paper
concludes that the acquisition and utilization of the knowledge of French language in
communication can be used as a tool or skill needed to reduce youth unemployment. Therefore the
paper recommends amongst others French Language education be made attractive through
proper funding in our various institutions of learning in Nigeria.
Key words: Youth unemployment, French language education, Self-reliance

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INTRODUCTION
The youth are the bed rock (chef main d’oeuvre) of any society, be it developed, underdeveloped
or developing, yet it is the most vulnerable as experienced in almost every nation today. One of
the areas of concern for the youth is unemployment. The main focus of this write up is to identify
how French language education can help reduce youth unemployment in Nigeria. French language
education in this paper is considered to be the ability to speak and teach French language. This
skill and competence would give opportunities for the unemployed youth in various facets of life
to be gainfully employed or be self- reliant.
The rate of unemployed youth in Nigeria is alarming. The implication is that there are a lot of
young graduates who are not employed which should be a matter of concern to any nation. These
youths are found roaming the streets because they are not gainfully employed. Some of them have
taken to drug abuse, crime and thuggery. This paper’s concern however is to demonstrate how
unemployment can be reduced through French language education. It is no doubt that language is
that unique attribute of man and his greatest asset.
CONCEPTUAL CLARIFICATION
Education
The Oxford Advanced Learners’ Dictionary (2005) defines education as “the process of teaching,
training and learning, especially in schools or colleges, to improve knowledge and develop skills”.
For Maklu, Domyil and Paksohot (2012), education “may be the most important concept in self-
reliance”. This implied that education, be it language education, is key to self-reliance. As a means
of obtaining knowledge, training and development of skills, it could be argued that education is
power: power to create, power to invent, and power to initiate and that discipline which cuts across
all disciplines is language. It is no wonder then that Mangkut (2012) cited Ochuba who posited
that “education is the instrument for economic empowerment and the development of sustainable
education, acquisition of appropriate skills … for the individual to live and contribute to the
development of the society”.

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Language
The Oxford Advanced Learners’ Dictionary (2005) defined language as “the system of
communicating in speech and writing that is used by people of a particular country or area”. It is
no doubt that language constitutes that quality of human peculiarity, that unique attribute of man’s
distinctiveness and that priceless mandate of superiority over the entire creation. It is the major
distinguishing phenomenon between man and other creatures (Babajide, 2000). The significance
of language as the bedrock of all human activities therefore engenders its relevance in forging
better individuals of mankind and harmonious societies of nations. Webster’s Third New
International Dictionary (1961) defined it as a systematic means of communicating ideas or
feelings by the use of conventionalized signs, sounds, gestures, or marks having understood
meanings.
Language reflects both the individual characteristics of a person, as well as the beliefs and practices
of his or her community. For many of us, speaking is as natural as waking up each day: it is an
unconscious action that we rarely notice what we are even doing. And as a result, we usually do
not imagine our language as something that might wield power, fuel debate, or even cause conflict.
In truth, however, language can operate in all of these ways. Language affects many facets of
human culture: religious, political, social, and economic. It is a foremost means of communication,
and communication almost always takes place within some sort of social context. This is why
effective communication requires an understanding and recognition of the connections between a
language and the people who use it. We make decisions every day, or have decisions made about
us by other people, based on the language we use. We frequently evaluate a person’s education,
socioeconomic level, background, honesty, friendliness, and other qualities by how that person
speaks. And when we want to make a particular impression on someone else, we consciously
choose our language, just as we choose our hair styles or clothing. These strongly suggest that who
we are is seen through our language, which has to do with the totality of our being. Amberg and
Vause (n. d.) argue that language is integrally intertwined with our notions of who we are on both
the personal and the broader societal levels. When we use language, we communicate our
individual thoughts, as well as the cultural beliefs and practices of the communities of which we
are a part: our families, social groups, and other associations. By and large, language is what we
use to think. It means language controls our thought. What we listen to determines our thought and

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action. Ideas are conveyed in words that we read or speak every day. Therefore, the need for
language education cannot be overemphasized.
The United Nation’s goals for 2030 can only come to reality if and only if the power of language
is considered and used effectively. Every country or region has its body language that is best
known to its citizens. It is through such vehicles that the goals can be transferred to the people and
be made achievable. Language therefore constitutes that quality of human peculiarity, that unique
attribute of man’s distinctiveness and that priceless mandate of superiority over the entire creation.
The significance of language is therefore the bedrock of all human activities. This is in agreement
with Samuila (2009) who pointed out that people would only listen to us, understand us and
respond to us when we speak the language they understand. Although words, phrases and
sentences we use are importance verbal communication, the way we use language can even be
more important than those words as sources of information. Shamiga and Sebastine (2009) opined
that for any discipline to lead to development or something useful like gainful employment, it has
to be “functional or functionable”.
LITERATURE REVIEW
The Youth and Unemployment
Unemployment is seen as “the state of not having a job” (Oxford Advanced Learners’ Dictionary
2005). According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria’s population is put at about
167 million in 2012 and the National Population Commission (NPC) (2013) says that about half
of this population is the youth, who are aged between 18 and 35 years. Akande (2014) in Oduwole
(2015) argued that as youth population grows so does the unemployment rate. We cannot but agree
with the National Youth Development Policy (2001) which states that “the youth are the
foundation of every society, taking cognisance of their energies, inventiveness, character and
orientation which define the pattern of development and security of a nation”. Oduwole (2015)
agreed with this by stating that “the youth are a particular segment of the national population that
is sensitive, energetic and active and the most productive phase of life”. However, Anasi (2010)
notes that “the youth are also most volatile and yet the most vulnerable segment of the population
in terms of social, economic, emotional and other aspects”. This then places the youth at a very

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precarious position. This precarious position is due to the fact that today, there are many graduates
and post-graduates who are roaming the streets in search of gainful employments which are
nowhere to be found. This also implies that more than half the population of Nigeria is unemployed
and so unsecure. And if the most productive of a nation is unsecure, that puts the nation at a very
unstable position. One way out of this situation is by having a French language education.
French Language Education and Employment Opportunities
Proficiency in both local and foreign languages is very critical. This gives one the ability to interact
freely with people outside the immediate communities. In some countries, the ability to speak a
certain language gives one a higher employment opportunity than others who cannot. For example,
it is found that Welsh speakers experience lower employment rates than those only able to speak
English. Possible reasons for this could include assimilation, positive discrimination and
differences in characteristics between Welsh and non-Welsh speakers. Drinkwater and O’leary
(1997). Therefore, a good mastery of language affords one an open door to greater opportunities
in life.
According to Shamiga and Sebastine (2009), formal education in the form of different courses of
study is not just given for giving sake. It is given to serve as an active agent of economic
development in order to curtail the problems of underdevelopment and hasten developmental
growth. They further posited out that the practical manifestations of creative writing are drama,
novels, essays, films, textbooks, advertisements and mass communication in general. The
implication for this then is that when French language education is made functional, especially in
the face of unemployment it could permit the practitioner to be self-reliant, to take initiatives and
embark on innovative ventures which would contribute to the economic development of the
country in several ways depending on the scope and nature of the activity (Shamiga and Sebastine
(2009). In the above quotation, Shamiga and Gyudu talked of self-reliance for the practitioner of
functional English. Think of the added advantages of a Nigerian who adds a foreign language such
as French to his knowledge of English. Among other things, here are some benefits of French
language Education, to the unemployed youth:

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1. Having access to job vacancies in foreign missions
2. It would help the Nigerian youth to develop capacities and explore potentials in the
francophone world. This brings to mind the fact that Nigeria is surrounded by francophone
countries. The youth would have no need to travel far, with the Economic Community of
West African States (ECOWAS), travelling to these neighbouring countries is not as
complicated as travelling to East Africa or South Africa.
3. The literary aspect of French studies would enhance the creativity that would manifest into
creative writing such as writing and publishing textbooks, drama pieces, novels poetry,
films, and essays in French. It is interesting to note that these texts are in dare need in our
schools especially that French is said to be the second official language in Nigeria.
4. The knowledge of French is an added advantage in Nigeria, many people are yearning to
learn the language and there are very few centers to cater for that. This then means that it
would be very difficult for someone with French language education to be unemployed.
Challenges of French Language Education in Nigeria
Despite the advantages of having knowledge of French language which can reduce youth
unemployment, there are challenges. Kolawole (2015), stated that despite the benefits that citizens
of Nigeria could derive from the acquisition of French language; French language education is
faced with many obstacles. Ogunbiyi (2012) asserted that in the early sixties, scholarships were
given to both French teachers and students. This was to encourage them to study the language, but
nowadays, this motivation is far from being available. Kolawole (2015) further states that French
language is rather suffering utter neglect from the stakeholders. Igonor (2011) equally affirmed
that learners of French were expected to have not less than 16 hours of contacts with their teachers
in a week. In practice however, it is often realized that a lot of interferences get in the way. He
further lamented on the dearth of course materials and infrastructures. In addition to these, teachers
of French language are few and this has drastically reduced the number of students of French in
our institutions of learning. This reduction in number of students could also be attributed to a lack
of functional career guidance unit in our institutions of learning. The demand for foreign languages
and communication skills is steadily rising on the European labour market. This could imply that
knowledge of a foreign language like French is an added advantage to youth employment
anywhere in the world.

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CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Conclusion
French language education in this paper is considered as the acquisition of French system of
communication that can be used as a tool or skill needed to navigate the world. This acquired skill
and competence could give opportunities for the unemployed youth in various facets of life. This
knowledge could also make the youth self-reliant because no knowledge is acquired for its sake as
observed by Shamiga and Sebastine (2009). We have seen unemployment as a plague which has
eaten deep into the fabrics of our dear nation but with French language education in Nigeria, this
trend could be reduced; education in whatever discipline, being a powerful instrument would
enable the unemployed youth to be self-reliant.
Recommendations
In the light of the above, the following suggestions are put forward with the hope that they would
reduce youth unemployment:
1. Government should make French language education attractive through proper funding of
students and the teachers and equally be motivated through regular training and retraining.
2. Career guidance units in our institutions of learning be funded and made functional. The
unit should include talks on importance of learning foreign languages in its programme
especially French because of the geographical location of Nigeria (it is surrounded by
Francophone counties).
3. Students should be encouraged to participate in career guidance programmes.
4. Information on available opportunities on French language education should be made
available to students by the Government who are the youths of a nation

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References
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Babajide, (2000) Language Functions and Conflict Management in Nigeria: A Functional
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Drinkwater S. J. and O’leary N.C., (1997). Unemployment in Welsh; does language matter?
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