WAHALA OF BAD ECONOMY....

  YOUTHS RAISE ALARM:

 BAD ECONOMY IS DELAYING OUR MARRIAGES

Most capitalist economies like the one Nigeria is practicing has bad and good consequences. In this type of economy only the smart and productive persons make money.

   The lazy and unproductive hardly make any thing of the economy. The Nigeria economy has produced these two groups since when it turned to a capitalist economy. Today Nigeria have many qualified graduates who are jobless and unproductive. This situation has no doubt affected the social life of her youths particularly in their marital affairs.

   Previously many Nigerians marry early, say between the ages of 25-30, but now the situation has changed, no thanks to the bad economy. The marital age has shifted from 30 years to between 40-45due to bad economy. The most affected are the youths, the future leaders of the country. Many of them are not happy over it and are calling out on the federal government to do something so that the situation could change for them to enjoy quality life.

    Mr. Jones Okeke, who graduated in philosophy 10 years ago said that the economy policy of the country is bad for most Nigerian graduates, said previously when  you graduate from the university a job is waiting for you  somewhere nut today it is no longer the situation.  I graduated 10 years back and up till now I have not got any meaningful job.

"I have done one odd job or the other and this is not enough to set me up as a man". Jones explained. "Most of us youths cannot really understand what is happening,he continued. Not even teaching, which was the simplest job to get in the eighties is easy to come by", he further said.

    Now tell me, how anyperson facing this type of condition can think of marriage, he asked. Marriage should be the last thing a man should think about, and that should be after he must have organized his life properly. Marriage he said is no longer the first thing young men think about now. How to survive is the most important thing they think about.

   But Nkechi Michael, a female graduate of bible studies, is of the view that the bad economy affects the women more than the men. According to her the men have age on their side the female don’t have.

"Any female who is not married after 35 years will certainly be worried and can do anything to overcome this, and the men are comfortable at that age, you can see the differences", she said. We females face more serious problems than the men. The men  for instances can do any type of add job and may  not get any medical complications but not all women can stay for so long as even fifty years and get married happily, how many women can afford such `luxury’?". She asked

Nkechi further said that the economy had made so many ladies unmarriageable. Most men go for ladies that have employment and skilled in one thing or the other, or the ones that ate comfortable, the ones that do not have anything doing find it difficult to get husbands.

        She agreed that the economy has changed the people’s way of life. These days she said cultural produce to survive and many Nigerian "villages" are getting urbanized, so the economy has changed to this, she explained if you don`t have a monthly salary it will be difficult to survive, she said.

      Miss bola Abimbola a university undergraduate said, she is aware of these changes and is preparing herself for the challenge. Marriage  she said is not her primary concern .people should not cry over this as if how we can make our lives a happy one than how to live with a man. One can decide to be a single parent and heaven will not fall she explained.

    According to her it is not only the economy but the societal change that has contributed to late marriages. In those days men can marry as many wives but today many women cannot think of being a second wife. She said to me this is one of the reason why many women are not married.

Godwin Uwak a self –employed engineer said the primary reason for late marriages is the economy. Many men are afraid to go into marriages these day. If you graduate at the age of twenty-four, and maybe after your service you pick a job, that is if you service you pick a job, that’s if you are lucky. It will take you at least ten years to get prepared for family life, Godwin explained.

  So, if a young man who graduates at that age could not pick a job ten years after graduation, it will still take him another ten years to take care of certain things, By the time he is ready to marry he would have been 44 years, besides this, some people deliberately delay to get married even if they are employed just to get prepared financially for marriage, Godwin explained.

   Again he said, ten-fifteen years ago, having girl-friends and sex, was rare. These days it is as simple as anything and the young men do not see any reason to rush into marriage

  All these are signs of hard economy he said, because it is when the economy is harsh that people think twice before they do anything.

  He is of the opinion that government should do something the situation as the future of the nation is threatened. Though Nigerians have no longer life this days but once this culture of late marriage is accepted, people will lose interest in marriage.

  So, these days people lie about their age, they swear oaths claiming they are age and that which is a lie. This started like child’s play of attitude, you can hardly determine the age of the person you are marrying.

   These dayspeople tell lies about their age and when you talk about late marriage you certainly may not be exact on the age people actually marry.

If the economy is good, he said many people will be proud of their age. That is not situation now. Any man who tells you he is 35, is likely to be above that and so is the woman. All these are effects of bad economy he said.

     Andrew Udoka, a linguistics graduate of eight years, said the situation is alarming. No jobs for the youths and the very few ones available cannot go round. If people are not gainfully employed, he said. It will be difficult for them to get married.

       He is of the view that the fault is from the government and not the youths. Our government past and present have no employment generating programmes for the youths.

"They should encourage self-employment rather than government jobs, "he said.”If they want should have the interest of masses at heart."

   He urged government to see how they can ensure adequate power supply, which will facilitate other things like agriculture and small scale industries. If government can do this he said, the life of the youths will change. In two years from now no person will be talking about late marriages.

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