Unemployment: Being a Graduate isn’t Enough – NOUN VC

The Vice-Chancellor of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Prof. Abdalla Adamu, has said that in the face of the biting unemployment challenge facing the country, it is not enough for Nigerians to hold degrees and certificates, but must possess required skills to prove their uniqueness and quality.

Adamu, who stated this when the university held a two-day programme to train its centre coordinators, lecturers and partners on ways to improve the employability skills of the institution’s graduates, noted that universities must be innovative enough to empower their students.

Tagged: National Employability Skills Development and Internship Programme (NESDIP), and held at the Lagos Office of the university, stakeholders including industry players, facilitators, representatives of government and non-governmental organisations had gathered to share ideas on how best to adequately equip graduates to escape interview hurdles and also do well on the jobs.

In his welcome address, the Vice-Chancellor, who was represented by his deputy, Prof. Joy Eyisi, noted that the university is leaving no stone unturned to make its graduates worthy of good job opportunities.

He said: “Every one of you knows that the issue of unemployment is a big challenge because the jobs are not there. So, being a graduate is not enough, you need additional requisite skills to gain the keys to success during interviews, at works and to rise above your peers.

“We have, therefore, organised this programme to ensure that we share knowledge with the industry players, key partners and organisations to know what the graduates are required to have and how to possess them.”

The keynote speaker at the event, the Executive Secretary of the Institute of Entrepreneurs, Dr. Rotimi Oladele, said consumers are produced in geometrical proportions across Nigeria’s tertiary institutions, while manufacturers are produced at arithmetic proportion or less.

He said the institutions must review their curriculum to accommodate modern trends in the labour markets, saying the challenges with the institutions are poor facilities, outdated curriculum and disconnect between the industries and the academic institutions.