National Coordinator/Chief Executive Officer, African Union Development Agency- New Partnership for Africa’s Development ( AUDA-NEPAD) Nigeria, Princess Gloria Akobundu, has called on Nigeria’s workforce, especially the youths, to acquire and develop standard skills in any job they have the capacity and likeness to do most.
This was said in a statement signed by Abolade Ogundimu, Media assistant to AUDA-NEPAD boss on Monday in Abuja.
Akobundu added that it would help them live worthy lives and contribute better to the development and progress of the society.
It was in her message to the youths during the 2019 edition of World Youth Skills Day with theme ‘Learning to learn for life and work’.
She said ” July 15 is a day set aside by the United Nations to raise awareness on the huge gap between the workforce and skilful workforce, in the nations around the world, Africa in particular”.
According to AUDA-NEPAD boss, Nigeria, a nation of more than 190 million people, majority of whom are vibrant youths, full of energies, looking for jobs to do, but many are still regarded as unskilled job seekers despite the huge infrastructural deficit in various sectors of the economy.
“This is worrisome to government of the day, led by President Muhammadu Buhari(GCFR), corporate and private individuals, while AUDA-NEPAD is no exception to such concern “.
The National Coordinator noted that governments at all levels in the country had been working on how to improve the skills of their teeming workforce.
She said “private organisations, are also showing concerns, but the youths and the entire workforce in the country need to consider the skills gap as a major problem and start making efforts to acquire skills that will make them relevant to any employer of labour locally or internationally.
“Such decisions in human life are borne out of desire for achievement , identification of individual strength and passion.
“It is not about what one has studied or previously trained on, but what individuals have in interest in doing well with high possibility of surpassing the existing standard of providing such products or services,” she said.
On how the youths could achieve such objectives in the country, Akobundu said there were windows for such opportunities.
” Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) is targeted at bridging skills gap around the world, therefore, youths and the entire workforce should renew their determination to key into such programme.
“Through such programmes, societal needs can be better met while jobs will continue to exist for those that have the skills to offer standard goods and services.
” This is because the world is fast becoming a global village where patronage for goods and services are no longer restricted to a particular location but on their qualities, irrespective of the location,” she stressed.
“Daily invention of machines and robots are still products of some peoples skills,I urge the youths to seek knowledge and develop skills with the aim of solving societal problems or improving the existing solutions”, she said.
The C.E.O stated that the AUDA-NEPAD would continue embark on youth and women capacity building in order to ensure their positive contributions to the country’s desired growth and progress.
World Youth Skills Day has been set aside by UN General Assembly since 2014 to bridge the gap between workforce and required skills.
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