Why Nigerian Youths are not Employable – Ngige

The Story
Nigeria’s Labour Minister, Senator Chris Ngige, says Nigerian youths are unemployed because of lack of functional skills.

When did he say that?
Ngige said this at a one-day trade Job, Career and Employability Fair in Abuja on Thursday. With the theme; “Promoting Employability, Skills Development and Decent Work’’, the fair was organised by the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

What’s he doing to address this?
Noting that the Nigerian government is conscious of the fact that most of the unemployed are those without functional skills, Ngige said his ministry is keenly committed to equipping unemployed youths with market-driven skills that will facilitate their access to self or paid employment.

How is the ministry doing that?
Represented by Mrs Tilda Mmegwa, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Job Creation, Ngige said the “ministry is scheduled to train 37,000 unemployed graduates, 1,000 in each of the states of the federation and FCT, on soft skills and marketable resume”.

Adding that another set of 3,500 unemployed youths will be trained in various “vocations including fashion design, catering and event management, solar panel and CCTV installation, among others, he said that each of the trainees would be empowered with starter-packs to immediately venture into business.