With the rise in unemployment in the country, OctaFX, a foreign exchange broker, has launched a programme aimed at training 250 Nigerian students of Rivers State University in the technicality of foreign exchange trading.

Speaking during an interview with newsmen in Port Harcourt, Lead Strategist of OctaFx, Ajola Johnson, said the move by the company was necessitated by the inability of the economy to absorb thousands of graduates churned out yearly.

She said: “With the way the current university system is set up, you find out that people come into school, study their courses and graduate without having any skills. Sometimes, they are not able to apply what they learn in school while some cannot secure a job after school. So, we design this initiative because we understand that Nigerians have multiple lives.

“We can do different things at different times. So, this is designed to empower students to have something to do while studying in school. With that, one can get a university degree alongside a degree in FOREX.”

Johnson added that the initiative would divert the attention of young people from Internet fraud and create an enabling platform, where they can legitimately make an income while in or out of school.

“We simply want to make a clear pathway for young people to learn about the forex market and to make an income.
This means that whenever young people want to trade currencies, the company creates a reliable platform,” she stressed.

She said the programme, having its first phase in the Rivers State University, would be on a project-by-project basis, adding that it will be sustained over time.

“We intend to organise programmes like this in several universities with Port Harcourt being the first, we intend to empower them with the knowledge and support that they need to gain financial independence.

“We hope that those that came in without any prior knowledge of forex trading, within the duration of our training, learn everything about forex and become self-sufficient and become meaningful and responsible people in the society,” she stated.