Country Director of HP Nigeria, Emmanuel Eze, has said Nigeria’s workforce challenge is not a lack of talent but the absence of pathways that transform talent into commercially relevant skills.

Eze noted that while millions of young Nigerians enter the labour market that is being reshaped by artificial intelligence, digital platforms and the creative economyevery year, many employers continue to struggle to recruit candidates with practical, job-ready skills.

He warned that the disconnect between education and industry should be of greater concern than debates over academic qualifications.

According to him, countries making significant economic progress are not merely producing more graduates but are developing adaptable workers who combine technical expertise with problem-solving, collaboration, design thinking and entrepreneurial skills.

Eze stressed that this reality underscores the growing need for investments in digital skills, creative capabilities and technology-enabled learning.

Eze argued that gaming, often dismissed as mere entertainment, should instead be recognised as a practical platform for workforce development.

He explained that game development brings together coding, storytelling, animation, design, artificial intelligence and product development, making it an ideal entry point into the broader digital economy.

“It reflects the demands of the wider digital economy. Far from being a distraction from workforce development, gaming can be one of its most practical entry points,” he said.

He cited HP’s recent launch of its Gaming Garage and Creators’ Garage at Skyline University in Kano as an example of how industry and academia can collaborate to prepare young people for emerging sectors.

According to him, the initiative represents more than the opening of a new facility, describing it as a demonstration of the need for education and industry to work together in equipping students with future-ready skills.

Eze also challenged the widespread assumption that Nigeria’s youthful population employment automatically translates into a competitive advantage.

The country director emphasised that demographic strength only becomes an economic asset when it is supported by employable skills, access to markets, adequate infrastructure and institutions capable of developing talent on a large scale.

Eze also expressed concern that many universities continue to prepare students for an economy that is changing rapidly, while curricula remain heavily focused on theory rather than practical application.

“The traditional model is proving increasingly inadequate,” he said, adding that graduates often leave university with academic qualifications but without the collaborative, creative and practical skills increasingly demanded by employers.

Eze further observed that the distinction between the technology-driven intelligence economy and the creative economy is rapidly disappearing, with artificial intelligence, cloud computing and data transforming how work is done, while gaming, animation, digital media and visual effects are reshaping how value is created and commercialised.

He said Nigeria possesses significant advantages, including a large youth population, growing ambition and abundant creative and technical talent, but warned that these strengths would not automatically generate jobs or globally competitive businesses unless talent is deliberately nurtured and connected to opportunities.

According to him, universities must place employability at the centre of their mission, while businesses should shift from isolated interventions to building long-term ecosystems that support workforce development.

Eze maintained that the workforce of the future would require more than technical knowledge, saying adaptability, collaboration, creative problem-solving and the confidence to develop products and services for both local and international markets are now essential for competitiveness.

While describing initiatives such as HP Gaming Garage as valuable in expanding students’ access to industry-relevant tools and experiences, he cautioned that individual projects cannot replace a comprehensive national workforce strategy.

Eze called for greater urgency in treating digital, gaming and creative skills as critical components of Nigeria’s economic future, arguing that they should no longer be viewed as peripheral to national development.