The Lola Cater for the Needy Foundation, an NGO has called on youths to acquire entrepreneurial or virtual skills to tackle the increasing rate of unemployment in the country.
The Founder of the organization, Ololade Ogunnubi, made the call at a one-day summit organized to commemorate this year’s World Youth Skills Day, on Friday in Abuja.
Ogunnubi said that mastering a new skill was not optional in today’s world, as it would drastically reduce the rush for white-collar jobs.
She said that her organization had trained some youths in different skills and it would continue to advocate for more youths to embrace skills as a means to boost their livelihood.
“So far we have been able to train 680 youths from 21 states in the country and they were trained on different occupational skill acquisitions such as catering, cake baking, tie, and the dye or “Kampala” making, electrical installation, and fashion designing.
“And for the fashion designing class, for instance, their practice was to make school uniforms for children at the Internally Displaced Person camps.
“This in turn is a way of giving back to the society, while also learning soft skills virtually, they were trained on branding and packaging, emotional intelligence, customer relationship, and developing an entrepreneurial mindset.
“In fact, when they acquire these virtual skills, they can sit in the comfort of their homes and be making money on a daily basis,” she said.
On his part, Frank Kudla, the Director, Federal Department of Agricultural Extension Services, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, called on youths to embrace agriculture as it provides several job opportunities.
Kudla, who was represented by Mohammed Bashir said that agriculture remained one of the primary sub-sectors of the economy that had not been adequately tapped.
“Agriculture remained one of the primary sub-sectors of the Nigerian economy that can generate mass employment for our swarming youth population.
“However, few youths have entrepreneurship skills in modern agric business while substantial numbers are primarily looking for white collar jobs.
“It is fervently desired that the attention of our youths must incline towards agric-business skills, which is a gateway to enormous untapped potential and prospects for sustainable employment, income generation, and guaranteed livelihoods,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event featured a panel discussion from professionals from different fields.
NAN reports that the event had in attendance representatives from the different government agencies, and private organizations NGOs.