The Nigerian government has launched several schemes to address the issue of unemployment, long term effectiveness has, however, been illusionary. CSAAE Educational Services, C-edu and CSAAE Job Placement Services, C-job deploy a novel strategy to provide both long term and short term solutions to unemployment.
With an unemployment index of 23.1% in 2019 which is projected to hit 33.5% by 2020, unemployment is a great economic setback for Nigeria. Analysts differ as to the root of this challenge; some attributing it to insufficient industries to absorb labour supply and some, an incompetent congestion of labour market. There is, also, a progressive debate on the effectiveness of several national schemes and policies established to tackle unemployment. If, however, the statistics of the Director General of Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria stands, addressing unemployment, then needs a new directional focus. According to him in a Vanguard November 24, 2017 report, only 1 out of 100 Nigerian graduates are employable.
The employability of an individual is a measure of the individual’s ability to accept and deliver on responsibilities associated with his/her potential job. If only 1 in 100 Nigerians is employable; it not only establishes the lag between the educational sector and the industry, but identifies a rarely inspected incline to the problem of unemployment- the unfitness to be absorbed.
As an effective remedial tool, C-Job is instituted and strategized to prepare graduates for job placement, making them fit for their desired career, who have been victims of education-industry interaction lag. This is achieved through the help of multi-sector personnel managers in the team. They evaluate an individual for his/her desired career, itemizing for such a person skills basic for the employment thus sought, and also creating a means for such skill acquisition. Upon the acquisition of the skills, the individual is matched with available opportunity.
C-Edu, on the other hand, appreciates that some institutions, both within and outside the country specialize in certain disciplines. While some are known, competitive and difficult to access, some are unfamiliar and unharnessed. C-Edu, works with a team of admission personnel to guide prospective students on making great applications and accessing scholarships.
Furthermore, while C-Job equips graduates for employment, C-Edu ensures that undergraduates are sufficiently skilled for the industry; for faster and facilitated absorption from the labour market.
At the same time, C-Ent, which is the CSAAE’s Enterprise Development Services, raises entrepreneurs; expanding the industry base for increased absorption of the teeming population in the labour market. Addressing Africa’s economic lag has been in the Centre’s focus, and we believe such a reality if no more far from us. It is a journey in togetherness.
UJA, JOY C. (EAL)
Editor-in-Chief
