The Nigerian government has been advised to encourage youths to acquire vocational skills as a means of tackling the high rate of unemployment.
One of Nigeria’s leading entrepreneurs, and chairman of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group, Mr Folusho Phillips, gave the advice while giving his opinion on how the government could tackle unemployment.
Mr Philips said Nigeria needed a more productive workforce at the moment.
“What Nigeria needs most today is a workforce that can use his hands. We want to build the nation and the building of this nation is really a physical activity more than it is an intellectual activity. The intellectual part of it, I believe we have done a lot of work. A lot of work in terms of reports and strategy and various things that we need to do.
“If you look everywhere, power, infrastructure agriculture, lots of report and master plans are all there.
“When it comes to execution, we have a problem because we do not have enough people that can use their hands.
“A lot of our youths get educated but never really encouraged to learn to use their hands,” he said.
Mr Philips stressed the need for young Nigerians to acquire technical knowledge in areas like welding, carpentering and fabrication among others. According to him, individuals with such sill would contribute a lot in physically building the country.
“Youths should be encouraged to use their hands and help to physically build the nation as there remains a wide gap in that area,” the entrepreneur said.
He further emphasised that until the youths acquire the capacity to work with their hands and fill jobs positions available demanding right skills, much would not be achieved.
Nigeria’s Vice President-elect, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, had at an event in Abuja on Friday said the rate of unemployment of graduates had reached 80 per cent while unemployment rate is over 35 per cent. He outlined the enormous task that his administration would tackle, with unemployment included in the list.