The Minister of Youth Development, Comrade Ayodele Olawande has decried the high rate of unemployable Nigerian graduates, adding that the nation needs 480,000 Data Protection Officers but has only 10,000 because graduates lack the requisite skills needed by present day employers of labour.
Olawande stated this at the Maiden Gem Leadership Conference held in Abuja on Tuesday.
Speaking on the theme,” Empowering Young People for the Prosperity of Africa”, he noted that Nigeria was blessed with a large youth population which would pioneer the development and prosperity of the continent if properly harnessed:
“We are one of the nations on earth with a truly youthful population; a human-capital advantage that needs to be leveraged upon, 70% of our population is under 35, our market is young, our workforce is young, our innovators are young, our consumers are young.
“This is a strategic asset but here is the paradox: A youthful population does not guarantee progress. It only creates potential. This potential must be unlocked deliberately through leadership, policy, investment, and systems with those largely affected, the youths on the table as co-creators and not just as beneficiaries.
“The end game is how do we unlock the potentials of young people so that they are better off for themselves, for their family, and for their community, and then also leveraging on their innovative skills and energy to be able to drive the economy of Nigeria”, he said.
To this end, the Minister disclosed that the government has launched programs to help the youth gain necessary skills, “what the Minister of Youth Development is preaching is that every youth must have at least two skills, don’t just rely on what you’ve been trained in school, try and pick up additional skills and ensure that you’re also looking out for skills that speaks to the needs of the labour market.
“We have what we call the National Youth Academy, NiYA and what we’re doing in NiYA is like the Nigerian version of Coursera, or FutureLearn, where young people can come online, learn skills. We believe that sometimes what we have is the skills mismatch, were you go to school and learn and get the degree but you don’t have the right skills to meet the job market.
“So with NiYA, we are providing an opportunity for young people to learn these skills free of charge, but also the platform through NiYA jobs, NiYA gigs for them to then meet the job market where they can now make real income for themselves”, he said.
On her part, Executive Director of GEM Hub Initiative, Oyeyemi Pitan, informed that the organisation was created to equip young people to be able to contribute to national development.
Pitan however noted that national development was only possible when individuals were developing and prospering. This, she said was the reason for organising the conference:
“And so we see the lacuna between the educational system as well as the industry needs and we thought, can we have industry experts, can we have thought leaders, can we have government officials in the room? Let’s talk about the issues, what are the things that we are doing right, what are the gaps that have been identified, how do we fill this gap? We see a situation where employers of labour complain about the output from the educational system not being able to meet industry needs.
“So now that these needs have been identified, how does the industry inform the educational curriculum? So we have been having a conversation, different conversations here and the outcome of this conference is that all of the beautiful ideas that thought leaders and experts are talking about, we are taking them to stakeholders who can make change happen.
“So it’s not just a conference for conference sake, it’s going to set the tone for GEM Hub Initiative for next year. All of our activities will be as a result of the outcomes that are coming out from this conversation and we are going to take it strategically and systematically into to meet stakeholders so that we can actually implement all of these ideas”, she said.
Similarly, the Social Media Manager/ Monitoring and Evaluation Officer at GEM Hub Initiative, Evelyn Iorbo averred that there was a skills gap between industries and tertiary institutions. This, she said can be bridged through entrepreneurship, internships and apprenticeship but sadly, the youth are not interested. She therefore urged them to shun get-rich-quick scheme and focus in ventures that would enable them contribute meaningfully to the society.
