IT’S common knowledge that Nigerian universities have become citadels for producing unemployable graduates. They graduate without corresponding technical or vocational skills to access job opportunities, which is why after years of graduation, a good number of them parade the streets of our capital cities and urban centres with prized certificates for jobs that seem to be non-existent. But beneath their search are hidden opportunities waiting for those that are prepared, skill-wise.
Smart young men and women, upon graduation in the mainly skill-deficient courses in the liberal arts, social sciences and management sciences plough themselves into learning fresh, practical skills over a period of time to enable them tap into the hidden employment opportunities either as employees or employers. Even some of them with certificates in the sciences, applied sciences, technology and engineering also resort to acquire vocational skills that their universities, polytechnics and colleges of education do not offer.
Few decades ago, it was unthinkable for graduates to bend over backwards to acquire vocational skills to back their degrees in preparation for job hunt. Time there was when students while in their final years would be offered multiple employment opportunities by employers. That was when the number of universities was few and far apart. In fact, the demand of manpower at the time by far outstripped supply. The number of the other tertiary schools was similarly quite few. That is now part of our rich history.
The reality today is that the country with a population of approximately 220 million has more than 270 universities. Statistics show that as at 2024, federal and state universities stood at 63 and 62, respectively while 149 are owned by private investors. It is also established that the country has 121 polytechnics and 205 colleges of education. All of these produce thousands of graduates yearly, and released into the job market. Most of them, unfortunately, lack basic vocational skills to fit into the job market.
Based on this reality, we join stakeholders to strongly advocate for the rationalization of virtually all courses in our tertiary schools as a direct and strategic response to the socio-economic needs of the Nigerian society. This would imply the re-jigging of the curriculums of the institutions to accommodate mandatory training courses in relevant technical and vocational skills that would equip the students for jobs post-graduation.
Right from the first to the final year, students should be compulsorily exposed to the acquisition of relevant skills. It should, in our considered opinion, be made a part of their project or dissertation at the end of study. This is the kind of academic transformation that our universities and other higher institutions of learning need to make their graduates employable, entrepreneurial and make impact in the national and even global economy.
Beside curriculum enrichment, proprietors of universities should embrace the new challenge of building and equipping relevant workshops for skill acquisition. But in the interim, they could enter into strategic partnerships with relevant private technical workshops for the purpose. It is also imperative that the Federal Government initiate a policy on the subject matter and set a timeline for its implementation.
Gratifyingly, the focus of the incumbent administration is the revamping of technical schools across the country. Intentionally, the government has lined up a juicy monthly allowance of N45, 000 per student when the programme eventually kicks off. Nigeria’s universities and other tertiary institutions should latch onto the pro-technical education atmosphere created by the FG for the much-needed transformation.
Some universities may have initiated a vocational enrichment of their courses, which is a very proactive development. But this time, it is our appeal to government to make a strategic policy on the subject with simultaneous implementation at national and sub- national levels. The era of graduates without skills roaming the streets for jobs should be a thing of the past.
