85m Nigerians Will Lose Their Jobs Due To Lack Of Digital Skills – Minister

The Minister of State for Science and Technology, Mohammed Abdullahi, has Nigerians to acquire digital skills adding that about 85 million people are on the verge to lose their jobs.

The Minister stated this on Monday as the special guest of honour at the launch of the Generation Unlimited Nigeria, a global platform bringing together government, multi-sectorial institutions, private sector and young people with the aim to support 20 million young Nigerians within the ages of 10 to 24, and 35 years to get jobs by 2030.

Mr Abdullahi, according to ThisDay, disclosed that the ministry was leveraging on existing structures at its disposal with a mission to incubate young people and get them ready for the labour market.

“85 million people are about to lose their jobs due to lack of digital knowledge and skills. As a ministry, we’re leveraging on TVET as a means of getting the youths employed, and we are ready for to partner the UNICEF,” the minister said.

In his remarks, Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, who was also a special guest of honor at the occasion, lamented that one key issue affecting Nigerian youths in skills acquisition is the Nigerian university curriculum, which he said was no longer relevant to present realities and has continued to graduate unemployable youths without skills.

Mr Ganduje stated that in embracing the digital future through skills acquisition, the sum of N7 billion has been spent in building skills acquisition centre in the state, ‘which was based on research that can make youths self-employed’.