Abstract
Democracy is regarded all over the world as one of the best forms of government. This assertion is not unconnected with the fact that the citizens are given the opportunity to elect leaders of their choice through elections. The chosen leaders in turn are expected to protect and provide for the welfare of the citizens who elected them to political positions in the areas ofsecurity to lives and property, employment, socio-economic and infrastructural facilities among others. However, with the rate of unemployment among the youth in Nigeria and the incessant electoral violence orchestrated by unemployed youth, it becomes imperative that the problem of youth unemployment must be solved to protect Nigeria’s nascent democracy. All efforts of various governments to address youth unemployment and curb electoral violence have continued to yield no desired results. It is based on this that this study interrogates youth unemployment and electoral violence in Nigeria with the intention of finding possible solutions. The paper highlights the relevant issues relating to youth unemployment and electoral violence in Nigeria. The research methodology adopted is the contents analysis of existing literature on the related subject, while secondary sources of data were used. The paper was predicated on deprivation and aggression theory as its framework of analysis. The findings reveal that the youth who are deprived from access to job opportunities are aggrieved and as such become tools for electoral violence in Nigeria. The paper recommends among other things;job creation, skills acquisition, agricultural programs, soft loans, and monthly stipends for unemployed youth.