1st June, 2024
By Salisu Sani-Idris
Vice-President Kashim Shettima has said Nigeria can earn more than it currently generates from the sale of crude oil if youths in the country are equipped with the skills necessary to take advantage of employment opportunities in the digital space.
The Vice-President said this while reiterating the importance of seizing opportunities, particularly in the digital space while addressing the Fourth National Council on Skills meeting on Friday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
“India is expected to earn 100 billion dollars from outsourcing alone this year.
“We have a lot of unemployed graduates who can work comfortably from their homes and earn a minimum of 40,000 dollars per annum.
“If we have one million Nigerian youths working in the digital space, we will earn more than what we generate from the sale of crude oil, and it will have a multiplier effect on our economy.”
He urged the committees to work diligently as a team to address the challenges in the skills development sector, emphasising the need to focus on high-earning skills in the rapidly changing global landscape.
Shettima therefore urged the National Council on Skills to focus on high-earning skills in the rapidly changing global landscape.
The council established a committee on coordination of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as well as States Programmes on Skills.
The committee Headed by the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, is expected to tackle critical issues in the skills development sector,
Its terms of reference include identifying skill trainings in MDAs and states, identifying dominant skills in the private sector, and devising strategies for standardisation, recognition, and certification.
The council also proposed a draft bill for the Nigerian Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF) aimed at developing the skills of the nation’s workforce and improving the quality of skilled workers.
A separate committee chaired by the Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohaneye, has been tasked with reviewing the draft bill.
Earlier, Mamman, explained the importance of integrating skills into the entire education sector for Nigeria’s true transformation.
“The whole idea is to bring skills into the entire education sector if Nigeria is to be truly transformative. The work of this council will be a major driver in accomplishing that,” he said.
Mamman also highlighted the need for conducting skills surveys and labour market information to provide policymakers with reliable and timely data on job quality, skill gaps, and policy design for poverty reduction.
On his part, Gov. Bala Mohammed of Bauchi described the council as a very excellent initiative by the Vice-President Shettima, to ensure that youth, women and people with intellect are able to be gainfully employed.
“This will enable them to exploit their potential in a manner that they could be self-employed and also to reduce poverty and despondency.
“We had a robust discussion and a subcommittee had been set up to look at the draft laws so that all stakeholders will be carry along on the level of the National Economic Council to the Federal Executive Council to look at the legal compendium of the law and so on.”
Similarly, the minister of Women Affairs, Kennedy-Ohaneye, said skills acquisition would definitely turn things around to a very positive position where children would at least learn skills.
“Remember this can solve a lot of female problems of early marriages and incidences of out-of-schools because if you learn skills in your secondary school, when you come out you have a voice.
“This is because from that skill you learned you can be self-reliant and even sponsor yourself to go to the university.”
(NAN)