NECA, Others Identify Investing on TVET as Strategic Business Imperative for Employers

Dike Onwuamaeze Experts in labour and employment have called on Nigerian employers to view partnership with educational institutions through investments in functional and effective Technical and Vocational Educational Training (TVET) as a strategic business imperative that is no longer optional. They made this call last week during the “Youth Employment and Skilling Initiatives in Nigeria and Beyond” that was co-funded by the European Union in collaboration with the International Organisation for Employers (IOE), Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Assembly (NECA) and GAN Global. Delivering her keynote speech titled, “Building Nigeria’s Future Workforce: From Talent Scarcity to Talent Strategies,” the Founder of Field of Skills and Dreams (FSD), Ms. Omowale Ogunrinde, said that the education of the workforce of the future must be done through a partnership between employers and educational institutions, otherwise businesses would continue to rely on expatriates for technical services. Ogunrinde averred that Nigeria does not have unemployment problem but a talent development problem that could be bridged through employers’ involvement in skill development. She said: “We do not have an unemployment problem in Nigeria. Rather, we have a talent development problem. The solution or the bridge to this is that employers need to get themselves involved in skills development.” The Director General of NECA, Mr. Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, identified skill mismatch is a contributor to high number of youth unemployment in Nigeria. Oyerinde said that NECA has been involved in conversations around youth employability by focusing on TVET through partnership with ITF and other organisations. In his opening remarks, the Project Manager, IOE, Mr. Ramon Moura, said that the event was around finding solutions for youth unemployment and ensuring that we create opportunities for young people. “The best opportunity for them is essentially to have employers involved in their skilling. And the closer relationship we have between employers and young people, the better off they are going to be able to get the skills they need for the future and to have employment on a long-term basis and continue developing as individuals.” Speaking in the same vein, the Executive Director, GAN Global, Ms, Kathryn Rowan, said that the idea is to bring together the different stakeholders that could help to tackle the issue of youth unemployment.