Mr. Yakubu Dogara, Speaker of the House of Representatives on Monday said that tackling youth unemployment in the country was top priority for the National Assembly.
Speaking during an interative session between members of the house and students’ representatives from universities across the country in Abuja, he decried the level of youth unemployment in the country, saying that employment opportunities were far below the growth in the population of youth.
“According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in 2015, Nigeria’s unemployment rate was 23.9 per cent and 60 per cent of our population were youths, translating to about 80 million Nigerian youths.”
When one takes into cognizance the sheer number of young people seeking employment, it renders programmes of government and international agencies to mere tokenistic gestures.” he said.
He added that while the National Directorate of Employment could not provide needed succor to unemployed youths, the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme was struggling to absorb recent graduates of the country’s tertiary institutions.
He also expressed dismay that educated youths failed to acquire skills currently being demanded in the labour market and stated that the ongoing debates organized by the House would serve as a platform to identify and prioritize key issues of graduate unemployment to be addressed.
He reiterated that the house would continue to support key youth policy initiatives targeted at young people such as boosting entrepreneurship, increasing investment in infrastructure in public schools, and supporting reform of higher education in Nigeria.
Also speaking at the session, the National President of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), said that the interative session would empower students with skills needed for leadership roles in the future.
“We believe this will help and guide our students aright on how to legislate properly on our various campuses.” Usman said.
