Nigerians have to embrace skills acquisition – Osinbajo

Vice President Yemi Osibanjo has said that Nigerians need to embrace skills acquisition as a sustainable alternative to white-collar jobs, adding that about 20 million youths are not employed and yet technicians are imported into the country.

Represented by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Adeniyi Adebayo, Osinbajo stressed that Nigeria’s labour workforces of almost 69million people is the largest in Africa and ninth-largest in the world.

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The Vice President noted that the availability of labour is a critical component of industrial and economic potential and this positions the country as the leading candidate for industrial related investment.

He added that “the development of skills and workforce productivity is however critical to maximising the country’s large working populations, regrettably the greater percentage of this workforce is not engaged because of the absence of requisite skills.”

Speaking, the Director-General, Industrial Training Fund, (ITF) Joseph Ari said as the organisation responsible for the development of the poor and the disadvantaged in our society as they are viewed as dirty, dreaded and dangerous.

This perception has led to skills shortages in trades and vocational areas that Nigerians should be well equipped to perform.

“My opinion finds support from a Skills Gap Survey in Six Priority Sectors of the Nigerian Economy that was conducted by the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) in liaison with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), which showed that despite rising unemployment, vacancies still existed in several sectors of the economy that are still reliant on foreign labour to be filled.

“My understanding of this is that if over 20 million Nigerians are not employed and yet technicians are imported, the answer can only be that Nigerians have not fully embraced skills acquisition as a sustainable alternative to white-collar jobs. This mindset and the perception that hands-on skills are for a certain group of Nigerians has to change,” Ari said.