The Industrial Training Fund (ITF) has revealed that rather than the absence of jobs, vacancies still exist in several sectors of the national economy that either could not be filled by Nigerians because of the lack of requisite skills or were being filled by foreigners.
The director-general/chief executive of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Sir Joseph Ari, stated this Thursday in Abuja at the 2nd National Skills Summit further said the survey was conducted through the Skills Gap Assessment of Six Priority Sectors of the National Economy conducted by the ITF in collaboration with the United Nations Development Organisation (UNIDO).
He said according to the National Bureau of Statistics on Labour Force Statistics, Unemployment and Underemployment Report of Q4 2020, the number of unemployed people in the economically active or working age (i.e15 to 65) was 122,049,400.
“It also showed that the unemployment rate among the youth (i.e. people between 15 to 35 years) was up by eight per cent from 34.9 per cent to 42.5 per cent, which was the highest among other age groupings within the period under review.
Also speaking, the Minister of State, Industry , Trade and Investment, Ambassador Maryam Yalwaji Katagum, said over the years, they had “witnessed the Fund’s passionate campaigns for skills development under the leadership of Sir Joseph N Ari, which I must state here, aligns perfectly with the vision of the federal government of Nigeria with regards to economic diversification and job creation.”
