UNEMPLOYMENT CRIME AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN NIGERIA

This study examines the impact of unemployment and crime on economic growth in Nigeria from 1981 to 2022. It specifically examined the long-run impact of unemployment on economic growth of Nigeria; examine the long-run impact of gross crime incidence on economic growth of Nigeria; and examine how the size of labour force has influenced the economic growth of Nigeria. Descriptive statistics – the mean, sum, median, maximum, minimum, standard deviation, skewness, kurtosis, Jarque-Bera tests – were used to examine the statistical properties of the model. The study used Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) unit root test to check for stationarity properties of the variables. The long-run impact of unemployment and crime on the growth of Nigerian economy was examined using the long-run cointegrating coefficients. The results showed that unemployment rate exerted negative and significant influence on economic growth in Nigeria. It was also found that overall crime rates have a major long-term impact on Nigeria's economic growth – contrary to expectations and may be explained by the fact that enormous amounts of money were paid as ransom to terrorists and bandits, who used the money to buy goods and services instead of diminishing the RGDP. The study therefore recommended that the Nigerian government should continue promoting modern counterterrorism strategies for security agencies like the police, Department of State Services (DSS), army, navy, and air force, by providing advanced infrastructure and technologies, increasing budgetary support, and boosting morale and that the Nigerian government should create laws, regulations, and infrastructure to encourage private sector investment and job creation, thereby reducing unemployment and criminal activities.