Federal Government has urged Nigerian youth to embrace skills acquisition in addition to academic achievements, in view of the stark reality of unavailability of white-collar jobs in the country.
Minister of Youth Development, Dr Jamila Bio Ibrahim, gave the charge on Tuesday in Abuja during the commemoration of the 2024 World Youth Skills Day as declared by the United Nations General Assembly in 2014.
She lamented that in Nigeria as it is worldwide, millions of youth are unemployed and therefore unengaged with any meaningful and sustainable means of livelihood.
She added that the worrisome part of the scenario is that majority of this age bracket live in developing countries where young people are underemployed and continuously exposed to lower-quality level jobs, greater labor market inequality, longer and more insecure school-to-work transitions.
“In fact, young people in their twenties (20) are not just bored, they are frustrated at how they are locked out of local decision-making processes as well as economic and life opportunities.
“These disengaged, disenfranchised and frustrated set of youth are a growing concern of the present administration,” she stated.
Ibrahim, however, called for multidisciplinary collaboration and teamwork in identifying and catering to the needs of the skilled youth.
According to her, the World Youth Skills Day, which is celebrated July 15th every year, has been internationally declared by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly to raise awareness about the importance of skill acquisition among the youth for socio-economic, political and technology development of all nations around the world.
“The commemoration aims to appreciate and celebrate the contributions of skills acquisition and development to nation building with the primary objective of reducing restiveness and poverty, encourage and support job creation, and most importantly reducing the high rate of unemployment among the youth in developing economies.
“Every year, over one thousand Youth participated and were encouraged to acquire skills in addition to academic achievements,” she stated.
Ibrahim said the Ministry on its part would continue to initiate and implement youth employment programmes and activities that would take the youth off the streets.
“In response to the high rate of unemployment among the youth and in line with its core mandates, the Ministry recently organized a scale up capacity building programme in Fashion design and Tailoring business with the establishment and equipping, by the Ministry, of a tailoring Hub in National Youth Development Centre, Odeomu, Osun State, with modern fashion and tailoring machineries where interested
youth entrepreneurs can access the centre to acquire and develop their
skills in fashion design and allied businesses,” she stated.
Director, Enterprise Development and Promotion Department, Ministry of Youth Development, Mr. Momoh Olubgenga, called on stakeholders to encourage youth not only to acquire skills for tomorrow’s market demand but to pursue peace that would engender national development.
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