The International Labour Organisation, ILO and the Nigerian Government are to address the challenges facing young people as well as harness the immense potential in young citizens.
They agreed that by equipping them with quality education, training and essential skills would bring transformational change in the country.
This was the focus of discuss at the World Youth Skills Day, WYSD 2023 celebration in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital,
The day looked at inter-generational dialogue between youth development stakeholders and young people in the green, digital and creative sector of the Nigerian economy.
ILO Country Director, for Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone, Vanessa Phala, who emphasised the need for youth stakeholders to prioritise youth development by creating meaningful platform for dialogue in Nigeria, also urged the youth to invest their time more in learning digital skills to become self-reliant later in future.
“This dialogue is designed to bring stakeholders in youth development together to discuss opportunities and ensure young people are adequately prepared for the present and future labour market.
It is on how young persons can position themselves to actually take advantage of those opportunities and contribute meaningfully to economic growth in Nigeria.
“It is also imperative that young person invest their time to research and explore what is available for them, because there are partnerships between different stakeholders,” she said.
ILO Country Director stated that “Be it the UN level with government, private sector, the representative of the D-G, Employers of Nigeria Consultative Association (NECA) made a presentation about opportunities, in terms of training they offer in the digital space.
“Therefore, it is important for young persons to get to know what is out there for them, so they can reap some of these interventions. The Day is annually celebrated on July 15, so this is opportunity for relevant stakeholders to come together and commemorate such depending on the theme,” she added
Also speaking on the subject matter, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation,’SGF, Senator George Akume said the event was suitable in shaping the future of Nigerian youth who constitute 65 percent of the nation’s population.
“Demographic percentage of the youth population is Nigeria’s greatest power. We must harness it positively to compete favorably with economies of the world. Today we are gathered here to recognize and celebrate remarkable potential of our youths, in shaping the future that is prosperous, sustainable and industrious,” he said.
Senator Akume, while commending ILO and partners for a job well done, noted that the youth are assets to sustainable development
“I will like to express appreciation to ILO and its partners for organising this event; together we have embarked on collaborative endeavor. To reach the skills camp and empower youths in digital creative skills, the significance of the dialogue is that it does not only address challenges facing our young ones today.
“Also in harnessing their innate potential as catalyst for transformative change. Today’s youth represents asset constituting significant portion of our population, which is key to sustainable development and wealth of our nation,” he noted.
Adequate Investment
According to the Permanent Secretary, Nigeria’s Ministry of Youths and Sports Development, Ismaila Abubakar, called for adequate investment in youth development programmes, to achieve desired goals.
“There is the need to prioritise investment in young people as a strategy to boost their productive energy and creativity in the society. Their energy, vibrancy, creativity and adaptability are attributes that can promote social and economic progress; youths are not only important partners in the current national development process, also future of development initiatives. Without strategic engagements young people will continue to face social and economic challenges, in the development effort of economies of the world,” Ibrahim added.
The Chief Executive Officer Tech Specialist Consulting Ltd. Mr. Lanre Yusuf, maintained that proper investment in the youth digital literacy would advance their skills development in the country.
“This is for youths to expand their knowledge and put their skills to work, by doing this youths will be more equipped to keep up with the evolving digital space. In today’s digital creative world, digital literacy has become crucial for people of all age brackets and background, and essential for modern work space.
“Also, it is a means to access information, services online, meaningful digital technology and boost expression, therefore, individuals must improve their digital technology skills to keep pace with global trends,” he maintained.
On hr part, a Youth entrepreneur, Aisha Tofa, Urged young people to try and do away with the fear of failure and the idea of making it only abroad, but try to understand what their talents are and make use them.
At the event there were poetic spoken word, group discussion and official inauguration of the portal for innovation challenge.
The World Youths Skill Day, is observed on July 15, every year, to equip young people with requisite skills necessary for decent work, employment and entrepreneurship globally.
This year’s celebrations is with the theme: “Empowering Youth for a Sustainable Future: Building Skills for Tomorrow”
The event was organised by ILO in collaboration with the UN Nigeria, Nigeria Youth SDG, Youth Employ Africa and Africado Foundation.
Confidence Okwuchi
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