Prof Isa Pantami, Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, has urged stakeholders to lay less focus on school credentials and more attention on the skills that will make Nigerian graduates employable.
He voiced concern about the country’s position in which graduates completed university but were not unemployed, stating that there was a distinction between unemployment and unemployability.
Pantami mentioned this during his 12th convocation lecture at Achievers University in Owo, Ondo State, on Friday. The topic of the speech was “Digital innovation and entrepreneurship: a cure for unemployment.”
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According to him, there is a mismatch between the quality of Nigerian graduates and the skills required for global job possibilities, particularly in Nigeria and Africa as a whole.
There was a need to address the disparity between what graduates could deliver and what businesses want.
He said, “We prioritise certificates too much in Nigeria. Certificates without any skill to offer. Certificates without the expertise to take up any opportunity. Our priority should be on the skill we obtain.
“The requirement for job opportunities are changing every day. We need to teach our children how to provide solutions to complex problems. We need to prioritise soft skills. We need to teach them critical thinking. We need to provide some hours for free for our students and others to think deeply and identify a challenge so that they can provide a solution. We need to prioritise the skills we give them.”
The minister, however, disputed with the perception that the country had a high employment rate, claiming that the majority of jobs in Nigeria were in the informal sector.
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“If we can leverage on the opportunities available within the digital economy sector through digital innovation on one hand and digital entrepreneurship, on the other hand, we will be equated with the economy of the G7 nations,” he recommended.
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