In Nigeria today, underemployment is emerging as a low-intensity war. Everyone knows it exists but no one will speak of it. The question is no longer whether people can find jobs, but whether those jobs utilize their skills, offer sufficient wages, or provide stability. Reports indicate that the streets are filled with university graduates riding motorbikes for hire, while skilled professionals languish in jobs far below their qualifications. This isn’t just a job crisis; it’s a crisis of underemployment.
According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), “Underemployment reflects underutilization of the productive capacity of the employed population, including those which arise from a deficient national or local economic system.” In other words, underemployment is a phenomenon where people work in roles that barely scratch the surface of their potential. The real struggle is not about joblessness; it's about being trapped in low-paying, unfulfilling jobs, a reality that haunts the modern Nigerian worker. Underemployment is the real silent struggle.
