Sen. Chris Ngige, the Minister of Labour and Employment, claims that most youngsters are unemployed due to a lack of functional skills.
According to NAN, Ngige said this while declaring open a one-day trade Job, Career, and Employability Fair in Abuja on Thursday.
The exhibition, titled “Promoting Employability, Skills Development, and Decent Work,” was organized by the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) in partnership with the International Labour Organization (ILO).
Mrs Tilda Mmegwa, the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Job Creation, represented Ngige, who stated that all stakeholders must be actively involved in preparing the African workforce for the “future of work.”
According to him, the Nigerian government is aware that the majority of unemployed people lack functional skills.
“As a result, our strategy is to provide market-driven skills to unemployed adolescents, easing their transition to self-employment or paid work.”
“In light of this reality, my ministry is dedicated to providing unemployed graduates with entry-level skills that will enable them to find work.”
“I am thus pleased to inform you that my ministry plans to teach 37,000 jobless graduates on soft skills and marketable resumes, 1,000 in each of the federation’s states and the FCT.”
“We will also teach 3,500 unemployed kids in various occupations, including fashion design, catering and event management, solar panel and CCTV installation, among others, in the coming months,” he stated.