MAPOLY launches centre to tackle unemployment

The management of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta (MAPOLY), Ogun State, on Thursday, launched a career centre targeted at addressing the high rate of unemployment in Nigeria.

The Rector of MAPOLY, Adeoye Odedeji, said that the establishment of the career centre was in response to a recent directive by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE).

Odedeji explained that the NBTE had issued the directive at a stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja recently, with a mandate for the centre to bridge the gap between academia and industry.

He expressed concern that the upsurge in unemployment in the country could be linked to skill mismatches.

“What we have now is a situation in which someone is highly qualified but under-skilled,” Odedeji said. “They are under-skilled because, while in school, they do not have access to the necessary information, advice, and services. That’s where the Centre for Career Services comes in.”

He said the centre would ensure that graduates of the institution are well-prepared with the requisite skills needed to thrive in the job market and become job creators.

He said, “The main focus of the centre is that whatever programme a student is undertaking here, it must prepare them such that, when they graduate, they can either start their own business or become self-employed. If they do not become self-employed, they must have sufficient information to enable them to find a job or be employable.

“So, this centre fully supports the various efforts being undertaken by the Centre for Skill Development and the Centre for Entrepreneurship. That’s why all of them are housed in the same facility. It’s a hub, so we can call this area a skill hub.”

“I want to encourage the heads of all three units here to collaborate and work as a team to achieve the major objective of reducing unemployment in Nigeria, ensuring that graduates no longer face the challenge of skill mismatches, and preventing the discrepancy between fields of study and job opportunities.”

Also speaking at the unveiling ceremony, the pioneering Director of the centre, Shola Adeosun, said the centre, an initiative of TETFUND, has the objective to find solutions to the problem of unemployment in Nigeria. He added that the centre is charged with a lot of other responsibilities.

He said, “As we unveil the unit, the mission, vision, and objectives, brief as they are, will signal to the academic community that there is a new initiative set to accelerate academic excellence at Moshood Abiola Polytechnic.”