The Impact of Foreign Direct Investments in Nigeria’s Oil Industry on Youth Employment in Niger Delta From 1998 – 2018

The main objective of this study was to examine the impact of the influence of Foreign Direct Investments on youth employment in the Niger Delta. Nigeria is Africa’s leading producer of oil and among the top oil producers in the world. Much of the oil is found in the Niger Delta with a few activities in the Chad basin. This has not made it possible for the communities in the Niger Delta to enjoy the extraction of this wealth. Other countries like Indonesia and Qatar have something to show for the oil riches that naturally occur within their state boundaries. The Niger Delta and Nigeria’s public continue to see shabby development in infrastructure, high poverty and unemployment levels especially among the youth which has resulted in high crime rates in the oil producing region. All these occur amid worries that the Oil sector is in the hands of foreigners and therefore there is very little for the people of Niger Delta and Nigeria as a whole to benefit from the sector. Considering that Nigeria’s oil sector is rent based in nature, the main objective is to examine the role of foreign control on youth employment in Niger Delta. The study adopted a qualitative methodological approach, Secondary data was used in this study. Data was extracted from previous studies on FDI in Nigeria’s oil industry and youth employment in the Niger Delta; local newspapers and international newspapers, international reports such as Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) reports, World Bank publications, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) reports, United Nations World Development reports, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) reports; World fact book reports. In addition to professional and academic publications. The major findings show that the temporary jobs from FDI’s are not always available which may lead to frustrations. Hence the new skills obtained as a result of FDI in the oil sector consequently become unprofitable to the Niger Delta and Nigeria at large. This research recommends that the government needs to establish a policy that regulates the training of new skills for specific projects to include a compulsory training on how the youth could use the particular skill after the project has ended or have an additional training on life skills and entrepreneurship.