Digital innovation, skills acquisition, entrepreneurship key to tackle youth unemployment ― Pantami

The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami has identified skills acquisition, entrepreneurship intervention and digital innovation as the solution to tackle youth unemployment in Nigeria.

Pantami who disclosed this while delivering the convocation lecture of Achievers University, titled, “Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship: A Panacea for Unemployment.” maintained that the country could overcome the unemployment challenge by making entrepreneurship attractive and making capital available for youths through digital innovation.

He maintained that “our youths need to become entrepreneurs, innovators, and risk-bearers, to create more jobs. It is disturbing to see a great number of graduates from Nigerian universities, polytechnics and colleges of education who are in the job markets, searching for non-existing jobs.

“It is worth noting that any society that lacks innovation and entrepreneurial skills will have to contend with the challenge of unemployment. In an economy with a high number of unemployed youths and where finding jobs is very challenging, a lot needs to be done to reverse the trend.

“In other words, lack of digital innovation and entrepreneurial skills will increase the proportion of the digital youth that are unemployable and the number of unemployed graduates.”

According to him, “If we can leverage on the opportunities available within the digital economy sector through digital innovation on one hand and digital entrepreneurship, on the other hand, we will be equated with the economy of the G7 nations.

“But we prioritise certificates too much in Nigeria. Certificates without any skill to offer. Certificates without the expertise to take up any opportunity. Our priority should be on the skill we obtain.

“The requirement for job opportunities are changing every day. We need to teach our children how to provide solutions to complex problems.

“We need to prioritise soft skills. We need to teach them critical thinking. We need to provide some hours for free for our students and others to think deeply and identify a challenge so they can provide a solution. We need to prioritise the skills we give them.”

According to him, there was a mismatch between the quality of Nigerian graduates and the skills for job opportunities available globally, noting that the issue of mismatch between what graduates can offer and what employers were looking for calls for serious concern in Nigeria and the African continent.

He, however, revealed that the Federal Government has designed plans and policies to train youths in digital skills acquisition in order to them job creators.

“We are championing a paradigm change that lays emphasis on skills, in preference to merely having degrees without skills. This is because we believe that degrees are meant to validate skills. No digital economy can thrive without an abundant supply of highly skilled citizens.

“In line with this pillar, the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy through the National Information Technology Development Agency set up the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics to serve as the digital laboratory for advancing skills development and innovation in emerging technologies in Nigeria”

Pantami gave charged that the youths need the mentoring of the elders in their communities for them to forge ahead in life.

The Chairman of the convocation lecture and the Olowo of Owo, Oba Ajibade Gbadegesin, Ogunoye III, observed the import of the lecture by the minister.

He charged Nigerian youths to take advantage of the growing opportunities in the technological sector, most especially Artificial Intelligence (AI) rather than running away from the country.

 

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