Group advocates skills acquisition to bridge unemployment gap

To curb unemployment and fill the skills gap, Engage Youth Africa Initiative (EYAI) a Pan-African, non-governmental organisation, has emphasised the need for skill acquisition and launched a 10-week jobs and skills mentorship programme for youths.

Its founder, Gbolahan Oyelakin, said the programme will groom no fewer than 1,000 persons between 15 and 40 years old on five, critical technical and power skills, designed to make them work and be leadership-ready.

Oyelakin spoke at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) during an EYAI event to mark the 2023 International Youth Day. He said: “We feel skills acquisition is a way by which they can productively live a purposeful life. So, we created this event to create that awareness and enable the consciousness among them that they need to acquire skills and specific competencies that will give them leverage whether they are students or a young adult that has graduated and is seeking job opportunities or a career path,” he said.

On the mentorship scheme, Oyelakin expressed hope that the programme will transition participants to smart, work-ready leaders who will go on to become employers of labour in the shortest possible time.

He explained that the mentorship programme “which will comprise about 10 courses next month, will span from project management to emotional intelligence, to vocational training, and also to technical skills.

“Within each of the courses, we have skills that are associated with those courses, like for instance in project management we have up to like 12 or 15 different knowledge areas skills; you have the leadership skills, you have the critical thinking skills, you have the communication skills, then you have emotional intelligence.”