Iliyasu Abdullahi Bah
The 2025 Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire, and Immigration Board (CDCFIB) recruitment exercise has brought Nigeria’s deepening unemployment crisis into sharp focus, with Northern states emerging as the dominant contributors to the overwhelming pool of applicants.
As Africa’s most populous nation, with an estimated 300 million people, Nigeria continues to grapple with chronic youth unemployment—particularly in its Northern regions, which bear the dual burden of the country’s highest unemployment and poverty rates.
For years, the Northern region’s economic potential has been undermined by persistent insecurity, which has eroded the viability of its agricultural sector—long considered the backbone of the economy. The Northeast and Northwest zones have been particularly devastated, with widespread violence displacing farmers, disrupting trade, and collapsing local economies. This has resulted in millions of unemployed youth across both formal and informal sectors, creating a generation desperate for economic opportunities.
The recently concluded CDCFIB recruitment portal, which opened in July 2025 and closed in August 2025, recorded a staggering 1.9 million applications nationwide. Analysis of application data reveals a disproportionate representation from Northern states, with Kogi leading at 116,000 applications, closely followed by Kwara with 115,000, Plateau with 90,000, Kaduna with 114,748, Kano with 89,481, Bauchi with 52,000, and Borno contributing 57,000 applicants. These seven Northern states collectively accounted for a significant majority of the total applications, painting a vivid picture of the region’s employment desperation.
The alarming application figures from Northern states reflect deeper socio-economic realities. In Borno, the high number of applicants underscores how the Boko Haram insurgency has destroyed traditional livelihoods. Kaduna and Plateau’s numbers reveal the impact of recurring communal conflicts on economic stability, while Kano’s applications highlight the collapse of its historic trading economy. Kogi and Kwara’s strong showing demonstrates how economic marginalisation affects even relatively stable Northern states.
As Nigeria’s population continues its rapid growth, the 2025 CDCFIB recruitment exercise serves as both a distress signal and a call to action. With millions of qualified youth competing for limited positions, the data underscores the urgent need for comprehensive economic reforms that address regional imbalances, restore security, and create sustainable employment pathways for the country’s youth.
The Northern youth pledge for recruitment reform represents not just a demand for fair access to existing opportunities, but a broader vision for economic justice and regional development. As the CDCFIB begins its selection process, all eyes are on whether this recruitment exercise will mark a turning point in addressing the Northern employment crisis or merely reflect another missed opportunity for meaningful reform.
Idriss Mohammed, advocating for sustainable recruitment, noted that the number of unemployed youth in the Northern region is alarming, with the Northeast serving as a prime example. “Since the devastation caused by Boko Haram, many young people have been left with no means of sustenance. We plead for prior consideration,” he said.
In response, Prince Mohammed Kafaje stated that Northeast youth coalitions have issued a strong commitment to advocate for sustainable recruitment reforms. “The North is eager to address the unemployment crisis,” he said.
According to the group’s Integrity Pact, the proposed approach includes transparent, merit-based hiring processes, equitable regional representation in federal appointments, and the establishment of skills development programmes tailored to market demands.
Mohammed emphasised that the unemployment epidemic among Northern Nigerian youth has reached catastrophic levels, particularly in the Northeast, where the crisis is most severe. “Across our urban centres, one witnesses the tragic spectacle of countless educated young people wasting their potential, sitting idle day after day with no gainful employment opportunities,” he said.
Reflecting on the situation, Mal. Usman lamented, “Our youth wander with no employment, some joining dangerous groups out of desperation. If they are considered in recruitment, the Northeast will have a chance to survive. Our people have nothing to do, parents have no capital. The government should look after our region and monitor favouritism so that the masses will benefit from the exercise.”
Experts stress that unemployment in the North, fuelled by terrorism, has not only claimed lives but also destroyed livelihoods, leaving skilled yet hopeless youth struggling for basic survival. They warn that the region’s alarming unemployment rates demand urgent and targeted intervention.