The contemporary Nigerian economy is highly characterised by a high rate of youth unemployment. The Nigeria Bureau of Statistics of 2020 put the country's youth unemployment rate at 33.3%. It is pertinent to note that the issue of unemployment has attracted much scholarly attention but not many studies have been done to examine the origin of youth unemployment in Nigeria. The study, therefore, seeks to examine the correlation and role of the economic transformation of the Nigerian economy occasioned by colonialism to the evolution and rise in youth unemployment in Nigeria and the southeast in particular during the period under consideration. The study relies on primary and secondary sources of data and uses content analysis and a historical descriptive approach in the analysis of its data. The study reveals that the transformation and translocation of the economy occasioned by colonialism and the incorporation of the Nigerian economy into the capitalist global order account for the origin and growth of youth unemployment in Southeast Nigeria. The work, therefore, posits there is a need for governments in the Southeast to initiate policies that will promote local industries and provide an enabling environment for these industries to strive. This, undoubtedly, will go a long way in addressing the rising youth unemployment in the region.