85m Nigerians May Lose Jobs, Says Minister

The Minister of State for Science and Technology, Mr. Mohammed
Abdullahi, has disclosed that 85 million Nigerians are on the verge
to lose their jobs due to lack of digital knowledge and skills.

The Minister stated this yesterday as the special guest of
honour at the launch of the Generation Unlimited Nigeria, a global
platform bringing together government, multi-sectorial
institutions, private sector and young people with the aim to
support 20 million young Nigerians within the ages of 10 to 24, and
35 years to get jobs by 2030.

Abdullahi said the ministry is leveraging on existing structures
at its disposal with a mission to incubate young people and get
them ready for the labour market.

According to him, “85 million people are about to lose their
jobs due to lack of digital knowledge and skills. As a ministry,
we’re leveraging on TVET as a means of getting the youths employed,
and we are ready for to partner the UNICEF.”

In the vein, Kano State Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, who was
also a special guest of honor at the occasion, lamented that one
key issue affecting Nigerian youths in skills acquisition is the
Nigerian university curriculum, which he said was no longer
relevant to present realities, and has continued to graduate
unemployable youths without skills.

Ganduje stated that in embracing the digital future through
skills acquisition, the sum of N7 billion has been spent in
building skills acquisition centre in the state, ‘which was based
on research that can make youths self-employed’.

He said moving forward, the state government has been able to
identify 20 different skills, and “we are graduating thousands of
youths who are being employed and are entrepreneurs too.”

The governors added that as the most populous state in the
country based on the last census, the state government has invested
so much in education and has benefitted not less than N3 billion as
counterpart funding from the federal government through the
Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC).

In his remark, the Chief Executive Officer of Generation
Unlimited, Mr. Kevin Frey, said if young people have the right
skills, 1.8 billion people around the globe would be positively
affected.

He said already, 100 million people have been employed globally
in 47 countries in the three years of the existence of Generation
Unlimited which started in 2018.

The initiative, which runs in different countries around the
world, has partners and supporters which include the Office of the
Nigerian vice-president; UNICEF, Tony Elumelu Foundation, World
Bank, USAID, Airtel, Jobberman, ILO and many others.

The Minister of State for Science and Technology, Mr. Mohammed
Abdullahi, has disclosed that 85 million Nigerians are on the verge
to lose their jobs due to lack of digital knowledge and skills.

The Minister stated this yesterday as the special guest of
honour at the launch of the Generation Unlimited Nigeria, a global
platform bringing together government, multi-sectorial
institutions, private sector and young people with the aim to
support 20 million young Nigerians within the ages of 10 to 24, and
35 years to get jobs by 2030.

Abdullahi said the ministry is leveraging on existing structures
at its disposal with a mission to incubate young people and get
them ready for the labour market.

According to him, “85 million people are about to lose their
jobs due to lack of digital knowledge and skills. As a ministry,
we’re leveraging on TVET as a means of getting the youths employed,
and we are ready for to partner the UNICEF.”

In the vein, Kano State Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, who was
also a special guest of honor at the occasion, lamented that one
key issue affecting Nigerian youths in skills acquisition is the
Nigerian university curriculum, which he said was no longer
relevant to present realities, and has continued to graduate
unemployable youths without skills.

Ganduje stated that in embracing the digital future through
skills acquisition, the sum of N7 billion has been spent in
building skills acquisition centre in the state, ‘which was based
on research that can make youths self-employed’.

He said moving forward, the state government has been able to
identify 20 different skills, and “we are graduating thousands of
youths who are being employed and are entrepreneurs too.”

The governors added that as the most populous state in the
country based on the last census, the state government has invested
so much in education and has benefitted not less than N3 billion as
counterpart funding from the federal government through the
Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC).

In his remark, the Chief Executive Officer of Generation
Unlimited, Mr. Kevin Frey, said if young people have the right
skills, 1.8 billion people around the globe would be positively
affected.

He said already, 100 million people have been employed globally
in 47 countries in the three years of the existence of Generation
Unlimited which started in 2018.

The initiative, which runs in different countries around the
world, has partners and supporters which include the Office of the
Nigerian vice-president; UNICEF, Tony Elumelu Foundation, World
Bank, USAID, Airtel, Jobberman, ILO and many others.