Michael Olugbode in Maiduguri
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has expressed its willingness to enter into agreement with institutions of higher learning in the country towards training of undergraduates in skills acquisition.
Speaking in Maiduguri during the graduation of 50 trainees in skills acquisition weekend, the UNDP Country Director for Nigeria Samuel Bwalya said the number of graduates spurn out from Nigerian higher institutions are more than the population of many African countries.
These people, he said, cannot continue to depend on Nigerian government alone to engage them, they need to seek employment elsewhere but this could only be done with the right skills.
He said about four million people graduate every year in Nigeria and continue to look for jobs that are not there, lamenting that in a country of about 200 million people, this has become a massive problem that needs urgent attention.
Bwalya said the UNDP is ready to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with governments at both national and state levels towards the impartation of the right skills that will make Nigerians employable not just in the country but as well as outside the shores of Nigeria.
Details later…
