A new report by Plan International Nigeria has revealed a worsening crisis for young people in the country, warning that nearly 80 million Nigerian youths are unemployed, while over 1,500 schools have been shut down in the past two years due to insecurity under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

The report, titled “State of the Nigerian Youth Report 2025”, was presented on Thursday in Abuja by Jonathan Abakpa, Advocacy and Youth Programme Officer at Plan International Nigeria. It was produced in partnership with ActionAid Nigeria and unveiled at the Nigerian Youth Dialogue, organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Youth in Parliament to mark International Youth Day.

According to Abakpa, with over 60% of Nigeria’s population below the age of 30, the country should be a hub of growth and innovation. Instead, he warned, the nation risks losing its greatest asset to joblessness, insecurity, and disillusionment.

“This is not just a statistic. It represents shattered dreams and wasted talent. The desperation is pushing many into irregular migration, cybercrime, and other risky coping mechanisms,” Abakpa said, stressing that 1.7 million graduates leave tertiary institutions annually with little or no job opportunities.

The report further revealed alarming insecurity statistics:

  • More than 600,000 people killed and 2.2 million kidnapped in recent years.

  • 1,500 schools shut down, leaving about one million children out of school.

  • 77,000 lives lost to tribal conflicts in the last five years.

  • 2.6 million people displaced, mainly from farming communities.

It warned that violence has crippled agriculture, with farmers unable to access their lands. UNICEF has already raised alarm that 25 million Nigerians face hunger.

In addition, the report disclosed that 82.9 million Nigerians (40.1% of the population) live in poverty, adding that many youths no longer believe government policies serve their interests.

“The tragedy of insecurity is not only the loss of lives but also the collapse of opportunities. Education, which should be a ladder of opportunity, has been violently pulled away from them,” Abakpa added.

The report called for urgent interventions to create jobs, improve security, and rebuild trust between government and young citizens before an entire generation is lost to frustration and hopelessness.