Adewale Oyerinde
NECA says Nigeria lacks enough industries. Adewale Oyerinde, Director General of the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association, stated on Monday that the country’s dwindling number of companies are unable to employ the large number of graduates produced each year.
He also stated that the unstable educational system created by strike threats and other difficulties undermines the potential to generate graduates who are employable and competitive in the global market.
The NECA DG made the remarks at the National Universities Commission headquarters in Abuja during the 2023 International Schools and Conference of the African Centre for Career Enhancement and Skills Support.
The event which is a partnership between six African universities and Leipzig University in Germany was organised to enhance the level of employability of university graduates and to investigate the stagnant labour market in Africa despite the increasing level of education of its countries’ citizens.
The NECA DG stated in his keynote address titled “Cultivating New Frontiers in Employability Research for Skills and Career Enhancement” that stakeholders should take a different approach to the issue of skill development and employability so that graduates have some level of skills and competency that allows them to contribute to national development.
Skills development and employability, he claims, are top priorities since they address some of the pillars that ensure corporate sustainability, productivity, and competitiveness.
“As you know, there are 265 universities in the country, but unfortunately, as the number of universities increases, so does the number of industries that are depleting, either due to the regulatory environment, mismanagement, or other issues challenging organized business in the ecosystem generally,” he said.
“As a result, reaching an equilibrium where demand and supply meet somewhere in the middle is difficult.” That is one of the reasons why the issue of unemployment will continue to plague us.
“It is also critical that all stakeholders take a different approach to the issue of skill development and employability so that before the graduates leave the ivory towers, they have some level of requisite skills and competency that can make them sustainable and contribute to national development,” he added.
As a solution, Oyerinde proposed the dual-purpose educational model, which involves graduates working and schooling at the same time in order to prepare them for participation in the labour market or become employers.
“Based on our experiences in Germany, Canada, and France, their educational systems are moving toward a dual type of education model in which graduates work while also attending school, so that by the time they leave the ivory tower or their colleges, they are already prepared to be an active participant in the labor market.” “I believe that is the path we should take as a country to strengthen our educational system,” he stated.
He further called for collaboration between employers and higher institutions to create a symbiotic relationship, where employers gain access to a skilled workforce and talent pool, and educational institutions stay current with industry trends, ensuring that graduates are equipped with the knowledge and skills that employers demand.