Investigating the Constraints to the Performance of the National Directorate of Employment in Abuja, FCT, Nigeria

Unemployment remains one of Nigeria’s most pressing socioeconomic challenges, despite numerous government interventions aimed at curbing the crisis. The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) was established to provide skills acquisition, entrepreneurship training, and job creation opportunities, yet its performance has been questioned over time. This study investigates the constraints to the performance of the NDE in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and Nigeria. A mixed-methods research design was adopted, combining a structured survey of 200 respondents with in-depth interviews of beneficiaries and NDE officials. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and multiple regression analysis were employed to assess the impact of socioeconomic characteristics and institutional challenges on programme outcomes, while qualitative data were thematically analysed. Findings reveal that inadequate funding, weak monitoring and evaluation, political interference, limited awareness, and a mismatch between training skills and labour market needs constitute major obstacles to NDE effectiveness. The chi-square analysis indicated that educational attainment significantly influenced programme participation, while regression results showed that funding shortfalls and institutional weaknesses were the strongest predictors of poor performance. The qualitative insights reinforced these outcomes, highlighting beneficiaries’ frustrations with unsustainable skills training and a lack of post-training support. The study concludes that systemic and operational barriers curtail NDE’s impact in Abuja. It recommends increased funding, stronger accountability frameworks, reduced political interference, labour market–responsive training, and public-private partnerships to improve performance. The study contributes to knowledge by providing contextual evidence from Abuja, enriching theoretical discourse with institutional and human capital perspectives, and offering policy-relevant insights for employment-generation strategies in Nigeria.