‘Bad governance, archaic curriculum bane of youth unemployment’

Absence of good corporate governance and the use of archaic curriculum by tertiary institutions have been factored as some of the reasons while youth unemployment is still on the high side.

Experts are of the view that if the country were economically driven, as expected, opportunities that would create jobs for the youth would not be far to reach.

Speaking during a career and jobs fair programme tagged “Project Employ”, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Grt8Jobsng, one of the recruitment platforms in Nigeria, Omomene Odike, said that most job seekers do not fit in as they do not have the required technical skills to do those jobs.

She said the school curriculum is very high, as many schools still work with archaic curriculum developed many years ago.

To bridge the gap, she said there is the need for improved corporate governance, while the education sector as well as the National Universities Commission (NUC) needs to step up their game, rebuilds the curriculum into the current digital age.

Since the launch of the platform two years ago, which attracted large number of unemployed graduates in Lagos, Odike said the firm has gone to different universities across the states, doing lots of employability skill training for students, to get them equipped for the job market after graduation.

However, she said: “The approach is not sustainable, because of the curriculum most schools are working with. Everybody has a part to play in this high rate of unemployment. The attitude and mindset has to change. Government is doing some work but not enough because the statistics are still bad.

“We have taken proactive steps as a company to put employment and employability issues in the front burner of the society. This event is one of the initiatives for improving employment and employability in Nigeria.”
The fair featured career talks, job search, seminar CV clinics and mock interviews.

Odike, who is also the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Uconnect, said the firm had employed over 12,000 youth since inception on contract and permanent position, added that it also target to fill up 1000 positions across different companies before the end of December.

Speakers at conference urged the participants to set career goals, through continuous learning and up skilling in order to get prepared when there is an opening for employment opportunities.

Vice President, Business Development, Sigma Pensions, Mabel George, emphasised the need for millennia to engage in pension schemes, as it is a better way to plan for the future.   

She said that pension scheme is a viable instrument for attaining a sustainable income flow after retirement.