Unemployment: Personal development, soft skills solution for Nigerian youths ― Osideko

Branding expert and personal development coach, Omobabinrin Adeola Osideko, has said that for Nigeria to successfully manage the plague of employment and social vices, youths need to personally develop themselves with soft skills to build sustainable careers and to also fast-track the socio-economic development of the country.

Osideko, who is also the senior director of Personal and Career Development (PCD) Academy, made this known in an interview on Arise TV while speaking on the roles of personal development, emotional intelligence, and leadership skills in human and socio-economic development.

She described unemployment as a disease that has eaten deep into the fabric of the socio-economic sector of the country, which needs to be tackled creatively and innovatively by everyone and not by the government alone.

She stated that for the average Nigerian youth to develop, they need to shift their attention and interests away from the things they were thought in school to soft skills such as leadership, management, communication, emotional intelligence, and interpersonal skills.

She added that the digital age has brought fun and easy access to these skills, and she enjoined the youths to leverage online classes and portals where these skills are being taught virtually for free.

“In this age and global economy, soft skills are necessary. They are things you need to prepare for a job or a career, and also to fit into the society of today,” she said.

ALSO READ FROM  NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

• Nurse Holds Doctor Hostage In OAU Teaching Hospital, Resident Doctors Plan Strike
• Woman’s Corpse, Unconscious Man Found Inside Office In Aba After Four Days
• Hoodlums Attack Lagos Governor’s Press Crew Bus In Tinubu’s Convoy, Two Injured
• [BREAKING] #EkitiDecides2022: INEC Declares APC’s Biodun Oyebanji Winner Of Guber Poll
• Top 10 Business Ideas In Nigeria You Can Start With 100,000 Naira
• 2023: Kwankwaso Will Not Be Deputy To Obi —NNPP

Reacting to the comment of the Minister of Labour and Productivity that youths should not look in the direction of the government for jobs, Osideko stressed that anybody serious about developing themselves and their society should not directly depend on the government for jobs or employment.

While speaking on emotional intelligence, she stated that it is important for the individual and their career, adding that organizations and employers are not only looking for people with high IQ but also with high emotional quotient (EQ).

“If you go to interviews, you will notice the interviewers asking about how you handle demanding and human relations challenges,” she said. “So, it is a must for everyone to acquire emotional intelligence skills.”

On the education sector and curricula, Osideko lamented that some of the policies, courses, and subjects taught in most schools in the country are outdated, and no longer meet the increasing demands of the changing world of the workplace.

She advised the government and other education stakeholders to adjust and fix some vital components of the education system to enable the students and teachers to compete well with their peers in other countries.

She emphasized that parents and teachers also need personal development and soft skills to raise children that can be self-independent and that can handle the growing demands of the society and workplace.