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Stakeholders seek manpower devt for emerging businesses, opportunities

By Femi Adekoya
05 October 2015   |   11:29 pm
STAKEHOLDERS and employers of labour have stressed the need for the country to develop manpower skills needed to take up new, emerging businesses and investment opportunities in the global space. The stakeholders at the AIESEC Alumni Association of Nigeria’s 31st Omolayole Management Lecture series noted that there is a skills gap in the labour market…

Business+Process+pic+ShutterstockSTAKEHOLDERS and employers of labour have stressed the need for the country to develop manpower skills needed to take up new, emerging businesses and investment opportunities in the global space.

The stakeholders at the AIESEC Alumni Association of Nigeria’s 31st Omolayole Management Lecture series noted that there is a skills gap in the labour market as most youths are not empowered with the right skills needed in the emerging industries.

Guest speaker at the association’s yearly lecture series tagged “Development strategies for job creation and economic growth”, Chief Executive Officer, the Chair Centre Group and Chairman Designate, First Bank of Nigeria, Capital Limited, Mrs. Ibukun Awosika, stated that the country is blessed with brilliant and competent skilled youth workforce, but stressed that implementation of sound youth empowerment programmes are still lacking to earn the nation’s unemployed teeming youths their pride of place.

She also challenged the education sector of the economy to help build and support the manpower needed for the future, saying that the dynamics of the world has changed and Nigeria should not be left behind.

“If we do not re-tool people for the new opportunities springing up on a daily basis, I am afraid we might have a problem. There are excess numbers of graduates that carry degrees that are not relevant for the emerging opportunities. Nigerians must be seen as a value creator to tap into these opportunities,” she said.

She stated that the privatisation of the nation’s power sector has not attained its objective because the manpower needed to ‎drive the privatisation exercise is not available.

Also speaking at the event, the president and chairman of council, Nigeria Institute of Management, Dr. Nelson Uwaga, said the annual lecture series is a noble initiative organised over the years to help tackle the nation’s high level of unemployment situation, saying that there are thousands of school graduates with no jobs, stressing the need for federal government to support and create more entrepreneurship programmes to boost job and wealth creation for the economy.

The AAN president, Dr. Dahiru Sani, said the association established in 1979, believes that the quality of the nation’s economy is dependent on the quality of its managers and the quality of education the managers receive.

He said through its numerous programmes, it provides many opportunities towards building and creating future managers and entrepreneurs to face the management challenges of tomorrow.

“The philosophy of the Omolayole management series is the analysis and exchange of views and ideas among business executives of topical issues in the business and economic environment with a view to proffering ways of optimally ma‎naging existing dispensations both locally and globally,” he said.

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