Due to the high rate of unemployment in the country, in a bid to mitigate it, the federal government of Nigeria has recently launched a unified job opportunity website for unemployed youths in the 36 states of the federation. This news was disclosed by the Minister of Youths and Sports Development, Mr. Sunday Dare who made it known after a three-day sensitization workshop on the use of the Nigeria online youth assembly (NOYA) platform held simultaneously at the National youth development center of Ode Omu in Osun state.
The minister further explained that the NOYA is an initiative of the federal ministry of Youths and Sports Development, developed to empower Youth in Nigeria by disseminating timely information on career-enhancing training, jobs, and employment placement opportunities via a unified platform.
In his words, “The Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development believes that the energy, skills, and aspirations of young people are crucial assets that no country can afford to waste, and helping them realize their full potential by gaining access to employment is no doubt a prerequisite to poverty eradication and sustainable development. Rather than seeing youth as a burden to the society, the creation of a youth job template offers the government a distinctive opportunity to focus on employment and job creation for young persons in the country”.
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Nigeria’s unemployment rate is estimated to reach 33 percent in 2022. Also according to statistics, Nigeria’s youth population eligible to work is about 40 million out of which only 14.7 million are fully employed and another 11.2 million are unemployed. It is shocking to note that Nigeria’s unemployed youth of 13.1 million is more than the population of Rwanda and several other African countries.
The youth population is also about 64 percent of total unemployed Nigerians suggesting that the most agile working-class population in the country remains unemployed. Looking at all these stats above-mentioned, the government creating a website doesn’t even solve one-third of the unemployment rate in the country. Creating a website for unemployed youths in the country is a very minute thing to do considering the high alarming rate of unemployed individuals.
There are already a large number of websites on the Internet where eligible unemployed youths can apply for jobs online, yet the unemployment rate is still increasing. This website created by the government just added to the bunch of websites already existing on the internet. A government hell-bent on mitigating the unemployment rate in the country will do more than just create a website which any organization can do.
Considering how a large number of the Nigerian workforce are idle, the approach of the government should be more substantial and effective which should be set up that will take a large number of unemployed youth off the street. The government should invest more in skill acquisition programs as well as the establishment of workshops and technical centers where unemployed youths can enroll and learn a skill that will be able to sustain them. This particular approach will soak up millions of unemployed youths as it doesn’t even require a degree before one can apply
Also, school curriculums need to be upgraded with the inclusion of vocational courses as well as practicals. The government should change the secondary/ university curriculum to introduce subjects to train students and undergraduates for skills that are lacking, but essential for the labor market of today. A lot of jobs today necessarily do not require degrees but skills.
The present limited curriculum must change to add subjects such as cybernetics, Coding, robotics, computer animation, web courses, data capture, and other technical courses that are relevant in today’s world. If this can be implemented effectively, graduates will become more qualified for positions in the current labor market and reduce unemployment in Nigeria.
While students learn to gain knowledge, they are also equipped with skills that can be very helpful to them in case they fail to secure a job with their certificate, the skills can come in handy as a backup plan.