Former presidential aide, Reno Omokri has attributed the high rate of unemployment in Nigeria to lack of essential and relevant skills among Nigerians.
In a post on his X account on Sunday July 30, 2024, Omokri argued that the core issue behind unemployment is not the absence of job opportunities but the lack of necessary skills among job seekers.
He highlighted that numerous vacancies exist in Nigeria, particularly in the oil and construction sectors, yet many Nigerians cannot fill these positions due to inadequate skills training.
Omokri pointed out that there are over half a million vacancies in roles such as plumbing, carpentry, dry walling, welding, roofing, and masonry.
However, Nigerians generally do not pursue training in these essential trades, leading to the importation of skilled workers from other countries to meet demand.
He also mentioned the educational focus in Nigeria, noting that many university graduates hold degrees in fields like sociology, philosophy, linguistics, political science, library science, religious studies, and anthropology.
According to Omokri, these degrees do not align with current job market needs, resulting in a mismatch between the skills of graduates and available job opportunities.
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He wrote, “There is a lot of unemployment in Nigeria, not necessarily because there are no jobs. The actual cause of unemployment in Nigeria is that there are no skills. Please fact-check me. There are over half a million vacancies in Nigeria in the oil sector and the construction industry in plumbing, carpentry, drywalling, welding, roofing and masonry, etc. But Nigerians do not like to study those skills. As a result, Nigeria imports thousands of Filipinos, Indians, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, Beninoise, Togolese, Ghanaians, and other foreigners to do these jobs we refuse to do.
Instead, Nigeria graduates hundreds of thousands of university degree holders in sociology, philosophy, linguistics, political science, library science, religious studies and anthropology. Then these graduates will complain that there are no jobs in Nigeria due to bad governance. False. There are no jobs suited for those dead courses. But there are jobs in Nigeria…”
There is a lot of unemployment in Nigeria, not necessarily because there are no jobs. The actual cause of unemployment in Nigeria is that there are no skills. Please fact-check me. There are over half a million vacancies in Nigeria in the oil sector and the construction industry…
— Reno Omokri (@renoomokri) June 30, 2024
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NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
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