The federal government has instituted a
national job survey targeted at
ascertaining the number of skilled and
unskilled vacancies in all sectors of the
economy.
Minister of Industry, Trade and
Investment, Dr Olusegun Aganga who
gave the hint noted that the survey which
is in collaboration with United Nations
Industrial Development Organization
(UNIDO) will assist greatly in giving
accurate statistics of the number of
skilled workers that would be needed in
all the various sectors in the next 10
years.
Addressing State House correspondents
at the end of the inaugural meeting of the
Presidential Jobs Board chaired by Vice
President Namadi Sambo, Aganga said
ascertaining these figures became
necessary in view of the investments
being made in the sectors.
LEADERSHIP Weekend recalls that the
board was mandated by President
Goodluck Jonathan to create three million
jobs in 12 months.
The minister said, “For the first time in
this country, we have begun a national job
survey of skills gap for the country so
that by sector, we will know what the gap
is and know what it is required to fill that
gap.
“We are not just looking at the existing
gaps today, we are looking at where the
investments are going to. We are looking
at the next five to 10 years.
“For instance, a lot of investments are
going to automobile, we have automobile
engineers, how many will we need in the
next five to 10 years. A lot of investments
are going to sugarcane, to sugar, do we
have the skills to do that? How many will
we need in the next three, five or 10
years?
“About N16 billion is going to
petrochemicals, fertilizer, and methanol,
we will need skilled players. A lot of
investments are going to metals, iron ore
and all that. Most of these positions at
the moment in this country are not filled
and if they are filled, they are filled by
foreigners. We do not have anything to
ensure that our graduates coming out
from the universities are very relevant to
the economy today.
“So for the first time in this country we
have embarked on that national survey
with UNIDO and that survey will be ready
in January. That survey will be used by
training institutions like Industrial Training
Fund to ensure people are trained.
But
not just trained, but trained to work
immediately.”
Aganga also said the survey result would
also be useful to the Ministry of
- Leadership.
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