Many jobless Nigerians lack skills to fill vacancies in several sectors
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Unemployed people in Nigeria are more than 23 million but there are vacancies in several sectors of the economy that cannot be filled because job seekers lack requisite skills, says the Industrial Training Fund (IFT).
The ITF and other labour stakeholders want Nigeria to reorientate its vast population into a skilled workforce, with the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) urging the ITF to leverage on a €3 million grant to produce more skilled workers.
The points were made at a public hearing on a bill seeking for amendment of the ITF Act, organised in Abuja by the Senate Industries Committee.
The bill, sponsored by the ITF and given legislative acceleration by Senator Sa’idu Alkali, seeks to widen the scope of the ITF on the provision of skills training in management for technical and entrepreneurial development.
“Amendments being sought through this bill will serve to expand the scope of our operations and enhance our activities,” ITF Director General Joseph Ari said at the hearing.
“In addition, the amendments are imperative now that unemployment in Nigeria has been estimated by the National Bureau of Statistics that Unemployment and Underemployment Report of Quarter four, 2020, to be over 23 million Nigerians.
This is “despite several surveys indicating the existence of vacancies in several sectors of the national economy that could not be filled because of the lack of requisite skills, which underscores the need for all hands to be on deck to ensure that as many Nigerians as possible are equipped with relevant and contemporary skills.
“The amendments are equally pertinent when you consider the recently released 2022 World Population Prospects by the Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs that projected that Nigeria’s population will hit 216 million by November 2022, and 375 million by 2050.
“Therefore, if necessary measures are not put in place by empowering the youths with skills for employability and entrepreneurship, the socio-economic problems that we are currently contending with in the country will conceivably escalate.
“An amendment of the Act will enable the Fund to expand its infrastructure to be able to accommodate as many Nigerians as possible that are willing to acquire skills for the national growth and development of the country.”
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More empowerment sought for ITF
MAN President Mansur Ahmed, represented by Abuja Liaison Officer Adeyemi Folorunsho, said the ITF should be given more empowerment through the passage of the bill, per The PUNCH reporting.
According to him, in a recent conference on skills and vocational training across the countries in Africa, the ITF was proposed to be the flagship of such training which are to be facilitated by a €3 million grant.
Other stakeholders in their separate presentations also threw their weight behind the bill.
They included the Trade Union Congress, Nigeria Union of Teachers, Nigeria Labour Congress, Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission, and Nigeria Association of Small and Medium Enterprises
Committee Chairman Adetokunbo Abiru (APC, Lagos East), said amendments in the ITF Act are very necessary to enable Nigeria move with global trends in competitive skills training.
