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Chemical engineers meet, bemoan rising unemployment

By Ifeoma Onochie
08 October 2015   |   11:00 pm
THE Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers (NSChE) yesterday held its 23th Fellows’ Conference in Lagos where it sent a strong appeal to the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to brace up to the task of governance and stem the tide of growing unemployment in the country. The conference chairman and president of the Manufacturers Association of…
A puzzled unemployed graduate. Image source campusdelight

A puzzled unemployed graduate. Image source campusdelight

THE Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers (NSChE) yesterday held its 23th Fellows’ Conference in Lagos where it sent a strong appeal to the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to brace up to the task of governance and stem the tide of growing unemployment in the country.

The conference chairman and president of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Dr. Frank Jacobs, in his remark, said there was urgent need for new perspectives from government to address unemployment issues in the country.

“The present situation is grave. There are no jobs for the thousands of graduates leaving schools and young Nigerians who are lucky to be employed are losing their jobs on a daily basis. This is a serious matter that government should look into with great seriousness and as a body, chemical engineers can play a major role in the society through job creation opportunities.

Prof. Banji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka, Director, regional office for Africa, United Nations-HABITAT, Nairobi, who was the guest speaker, said the country’s urban unemployment challenge is foundational. “A lot of people are unemployed despite the fact that they went to school and came out with good result. This is an anomaly; the reason is because many of them are educated but lacking in skills to be independent or self-employed.”

He stressed that the situation would be worse in the nearest future because Africa has the fastest growing population, with more than 50 percent of the population unemployed. He, therefore, called on government to diversify the economy and invest massively in agriculture to stop the rural-urban migration, while more emphasis should be placed on acquiring vocational skills in the educational curriculum.

The national president of NSChE, Prof. Emenike Wami, noted that the Fellows’ conference was a time for members to brainstorm on topical national issues of importance.

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