The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, has attributed lack of functional skills led to most Nigerian youths remaining unemployed.
Ngige was speaking in Abuja on Thursday while declaring open a one-day ‘Job, Career and Employability Fair’; said the Nigerian government is conscious that most unemployed are those without functional skills.
The fair was organised by the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) with the theme ‘Promoting Employability, Skills Development, and Decent Work’.
Represented by Mrs. Tilda Mmegwa, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Job Creation, the Minister said stakeholders must be actively involved in preparing the African workforce for the ‘future of work’.
“Our strategy, therefore, is to equip the unemployed youths with market-driven skills, which will facilitate their access to self or paid employment,” noted Ngige.
“In recognition of this reality, my ministry is keenly committed to equipping unemployed graduates with entry point competencies to make them employable. “The minister announced that the labour ministry had scheduled to train 37,000 unemployed graduates, 1,000 from the 36 states and the FCT, on soft skills and marketable resumes.“ In the coming months, we will also train 3,500 unemployed youth in various vocations including fashion design, catering and event management, solar panel and CCTV installation, among others,’’ he added.
Ngige added that the ministry would empower each trainee with starter packs to venture into business.
Also speaking, Ms. Vanessa Phala, ILO’s country director, noted that there was no social protection and called on Nigerian youths to be adaptable to new knowledge to gain employment.
Phala stated that many people had lost jobs due to COVID-19 and that the rate of unemployment had continued to increase.
NECA President, Mr. Taiwo Adeniyi, represented by Mrs Olubunmi Adekoje, the Federation of Construction Industry Director-General, said the fair was organised to enhance employability and improve youths’ chances and other jobseekers getting employed.
Adeniyi suggested the fair should also be held in Port-Harcourt and Enugu.
