• Mbah canvasses vocational education to check rising unemployment
The Ministry of Labour and Employment has reaffirmed its commitment to collaborate with the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) for a proactive effort that would facilitate and promote job creation and employment services to the teeming young population.
Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Muhammad Dingyadi, made the pledge yesterday, in Lagos, at the fifth yearly NECA Job and Employability Fair.
Speaking on ‘Future Ready: Harnessing Digital Skills for Career Success and Employability’, Dingyadi explained that the theme underscored a critical and timely shift in the global workforce landscape, noting that the ability to adapt, learn and apply digital skills was no longer optional, but essential.
According to him, the multiplier effect will be the development of future-proof careers where skills gaps are bridged and reduced to the barest minimum.
The minister said that equipping job seekers with relevant digital capabilities contributes to the country’s national goals of job creation, innovation, reduced unemployment, and economic growth.
Dingyadi maintained that the fair fosters a digitally literate workforce that could attract global opportunities and investment, as well as achieve the priority areas of the Renewed Hope Agenda of the current administration.
He commended NECA for contributing its quota to employment promotion for young people in Nigeria and supporting the ministry’s effort to create jobs.
Director-General of NECA, who was represented by Thompson Akpabio, said the job fair was part of the organisation’s corporate social responsibility, where it looks at a theme yearly that resonates with employability.
THIS is even as Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State has stressed the urgent need to massively invest in vocational education to tackle the rising unemployment in the country.
He made the advocacy yesterday at the South-East and South South Interregional TECHNICAL and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Forum organised by the Science, Technical and Vocational Schools Management Board (STVSMB), Enugu State chapter, with support from Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).
In his address, the governor, who was represented by Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, said the need for technical and vocational education was not only relevant, but also responsive to the labour market demand, which has become even more critical to addressing the challenges of youth unemployment in the country.
“Across the regions, there is growing recognition that traditional academic pathways alone cannot address the employment needs of our growing youth population,” he said.
Mbah noted that the theme of the summit, “From Classroom to Careers: Revolutionising Technical Education for Regional Prosperity”, was both critical and timely, especially given the growing rate of youth unemployment across the federation.
On her part, the Executive Chairman of STVSMB, Dr Amaka Ngene, urged participants to engage meaningfully, share their experiences and forge partnerships that would drive meaningful change and economic prosperity across the regions.
