Equipping young Nigerians for entrepreneurship, job creation
Nigeria is bedeviled by high youth unemployment, estimated at over 50 percent.
The situation, described as a time bomb, has created a lot of socio-economic crises in the country, ranging from armed terrorism to militancy.
Owing to the threat posed by the hydra-headed problem, the CMS Grammar School’s Old Grammarians’ Society met recently to proffer solutions to it.
At the CMS Grammar School Job/Career Summit to mark its 157th Founders’ Day of the school in Lagos, speakers called on governments at all levels to double their efforts in creating enabling environment for productivity and job opportunities for young Nigerians.
Others said entrepreneurship was the only way forward in the face of chronic unemployment situation.
Dennis Osah, chairman of the summit and representative of 1960 Set of the Old Grammarians’ Society, identified job creation as a responsibility of governments, which had been neglected over the years.
Osah said 80 percent of young Nigerians were unemployable, owing to lack of basic infrastructure in the country. He wondered why Nigerians that studied abroad, particularly in the United Kingdom and United Stated of America, were more employable than the citizens of those countries while those at home were said to be unqualified.
He urged governments at all levels to create the enabling environment for business and learning.
“Nigerian families are regarded as the most brave and productive in the UK. That is why the American’s Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump wanted Nigerians out of the United State. The governments should create enabling environment for businesses and learning by providing basic infrastructure such as power,” Osah stated.
He thanked Lagos State Government for establishing the Ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment and called on other states in the country to emulate the initiative.
In his remarks, Babatunde Durosinmi-Etti, Lagos State Commissioner for Wealth Creation and Employment, said the ministry was opened for an inclusive partnership with stakeholders to achieve sustainable wealth creation among young unemployed population residing in Lagos.
The commissioner who was represented by Yetunde Adewumi, head of partnership at the ministry, lamented the high rate of unemployment in the country, adding that the Lagos government was determined to tackle the problem to change the trend. He advised the youth in the state to take advantage of the various initiatives of the ministry, such as trainings and loans for young entrepreneurs to enhance their careers.
Adedapo Fashanu, president, Old Grammarians’ Society, urged the government to sustain its current drive to create jobs for the teeming youth through its newly established Ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment. Fashanu said the association was ready to partner with the ministry to create wealth for its young members.
“We appreciate the laudable efforts of the Lagos State Governor, Akinwumi Ambode to create wealth for the youth in the state by establishing the Ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment. It is an initiative we are proud to associate with to create sustainable wealth for the young members of the Old Grammarians’ Society,” Fashanu stated.
CHINYERE OKEKE