According to the National Bureau of Statistics Unemployment and Underemployment Report of Q4 2020, the number of unemployed persons in the economically active or working age (15 to 65) was put at 122,049,400. Of this number, 69, 675,468 Nigerians were willing to work, but only 46,488,079 in paid employment.
In lieu of this, the Federal Government is seeking to institutionalise an apprenticeship system of skills acquisition as a means of grooming employable skills and reducing poverty in the country. The Minister of Industry trade and investment Otunba Adebayo made this known at 2nd National Skills Summit in Abuja with theme, “Institutionalizing apprenticeship and traineeship for national development.” Otunba who was represented by the Minister of State Industry, Trade and Investment, Amb Maryam Katagum, says apprenticeship and traineeship, which is one aspect of skills acquisition will play a key role given the numerous advantages it offers and its efficacy in solving some of the challenges we are facing in climes it has been fully explored.
Adding that, successful apprenticeships and traineeship have the potential to generate and build new skills, provide the most efficient way to train all-round craftsmen to meet present and future needs, assure an adequate supply of skilled workers to fill employment opportunities, In his remarks, the Director General Industrial Training Fund Joseph Ari reels out that, the National Bureau of Statistics Unemployment and Underemployment Report shows that over 23 million Nigerians are qualified and willing to work without jobs. Adding that, that the unemployment rate among the youth between 15 to 35 years is high by eight per cent from 34.9 per cent to 42.5 per cent, which is the highest among other age groupings within the period under review.
Ari says despite this high unemployment rate especially among the youths, a skills gap assessment of six priority sectors of the national economy conducted by the ITF in collaboration with the United Nations Development Organisation revealed that rather than the absence of jobs, vacancies still exist in several sectors of the national economy that either could not be filled by Nigerians because of the lack of requisite skills or were being filled by foreigners.
He explained that the summit will provide the government as well as private sector players with the platform to finally articulate strategies for a robust apprenticeship scheme in the country.
