Bukola Afeni
Nigerian youths have been advised to prioritise digital skills acquisition to reduce the rate of unemployment in the country.
The Host Women Voices, Atinuke Tokura Nukay stated this at the Abuja Job Skill Acquisition Fair program in Abuja.
She urged the youths to acquire skills before obtaining admission to stand a better chance of obtaining good jobs after graduation.
” Am urging the unemployed youths to acquire skills that will position them to be employable after school.
I would advise that before obtaining the JAMB form, even while in school, you are acquiring a skill to enable you to stand out amid plenty of individuals”, she said.
Host Women Voices noted that it is important for youths to seek mentors that will guide them in their different career paths.
” There are different professionals who are already in the field of endeavour that you want to practice. The youth can learn from them, by being humble and not looking at the stress during the learning phase. By obtaining adequate knowledge and skills, the individual is ready to launch out.
“When you are competing with somebody
who is unprepared, what you expect is a failure. Another form of preparation is searching for knowledge online. There is much information available online to acquire skills”, she added.
The CEO of the Talk office and the Convener of the Abuja Job and Skill Acquisition fair, Njuara Njama, said the objective of the program is to reduce unemployment one at a time.
” We do not reject job applicants, we rather prepare them and connect them to different organizations that can employ them. The Abuja Job and Skill Acquisition fair is meant to bridge the gap between applicants and employers.
” We created a system of training for applicants where they are trained with employability skills, and we presented the applicants to the employers on the day of the fair. We interviewed different applicants, sieved out the best, and trained them.
“The objective of the program is to give applicants and employers better chances. We cannot continue to complain about things not working and not giving people better opportunities in life”, the HR consultant noted.
A legal practitioner, Dr Sijuade Adekayode, disclosed that the acquisition of digital skills will enable youths to be employable.
“Globally, the world is moving towards digital skills acquisition. There are so many organisations offering courses and training to acquire skills. There are remote jobs that can be done from the comfort of a room”.
In the same vein, Dr Adekayode noted that digital skills are more important than experience in the present dispensation.
” It is those who have digital skills that will fit into an appropriate role in the labour market. I believe with time, the issue of experience will not be so much of a big deal when it comes to employability.
Any individual that can do the job will get employed now, this is what is happening in Europe, America and other climes”, the legal practitioner said.
