Taking advantage of the country’s population and developing human capital especially the youths will help in the development of the country, Stakeholders say.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the unemployment rate of the country has risen from 27.1% in the first quarter of 2020 to 33% in the first quarter of 2021.
A situation stakeholders in an Entrepreneurship Workshop in Abuja organized by the National Centre for Technology Management, NACETEM said could be addressed through government and private sector investment in skills acquisition and entrepreneurship.
The Acting Director General NACETEM Dr John Akintayo Omimakinde said the Agency was committed to proffering solutions to the menace of unemployment through its entrepreneurial training and policy formation.
”As a topmost policy research institution, NACETEM has been very active in guiding policies especially in the area of entrepreneurship studies to take away guesswork from how entrepreneurial activities are done in the country” He said.
According to a former Director with NYSC Mr Hilary Nasamu, the incorporated Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development, SAED programme was introduced to address the gap of unemployment especially among the younger population.
He said youths could drive the economy if their capacity were developed through effective investment.
Nigeria must use its huge population to its advantage, he said.
An Assistant Director with NACETEM and co- principal investigator of “ the Design and Impact of an Apprenticeship Intervention in Nigeria “ Dr Abiodun Egbetokun said the purpose of SAED was to support the promotion of youths employment in Nigeria
Dr Egbetokun who decried the high rate of unemployment said making SAED work effectively would help government to address the menace employment.
He explained that though funding for the present project was already provided by the International Development Research Centre , IDRC, assistance from within the country had not been encouraging and called for more stakeholders and private sector cooperation .
Reporting by Rabi Momoh, editing by Daniel Adejo