The recent recruitment exercise by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has brought to light the overwhelming unemployment crisis in the country, with an astonishing 573,459 applications submitted for just 3,927 job slots.
According to an anonymous source within the Customs Service, the applicants include 276,940 degree and Higher National Diploma (HND) holders, 128,586 National Certificate in Education (NCE) and diploma holders, and 167,993 candidates with Senior Secondary School Examination Certificates (SSCE). The figures reflect the intense competition and desperation among Nigerians seeking stable employment in a country grappling with a chronic unemployment crisis.
“The numbers are overwhelming and unprecedented. It shows the level of desperation among Nigerians,” the source said.
The NCS had opened its portal for applications from December 2024 to January 2025 to fill vacancies across various cadres. Despite the high number of applicants, only 3,927 individuals will be employed, leaving hundreds of thousands of candidates disappointed.
The surge in applications underscores Nigeria’s persistent unemployment challenge. According to the most recent data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the unemployment rate in the country stood at 4.3% in the second quarter of 2024.
However, that unemployment figure has been met with skepticism due to the bureau’s revised methodology, which considers individuals employed if they worked for at least one hour for pay or profit in the past week.
While the NBS reports a decline in unemployment, the overwhelming response to the Customs recruitment exercise tells a different story.
The sheer number of applicants for the NCS jobs reflects the depth of the unemployment crisis. For many Nigerians, government jobs like those offered by the Customs Service are seen as a rare opportunity for stability and financial security.
The overwhelming number of applications has reignited discussions about the failure of successive governments to create adequate jobs or foster an enabling environment for job creation. Despite Nigeria’s vast natural resources and young, dynamic population, economic growth has been hampered by challenges such as policy inconsistencies, inadequate infrastructure, and insecurity.
Efforts to obtain an official response from the NCS on the recruitment figures were unsuccessful. The national public relations officer, Abdullahi Maiwada, did not respond to inquiries about the exercise.
The Customs recruitment exercise has become a stark reminder of the intense competition for jobs in Nigeria and the urgent need for comprehensive solutions to the country’s unemployment crisis.
