The Minister of State for Youth Development, Mr Ayodele Olawande, says most Nigerians youths lack basic skills required to get them gainful employment.
Olawande lamented that most private firms now prefer to employ foreigners because Nigerian youths lack the skills to work in their firms.
In a statement signed by the Head, Press and Public Relations Unit of the Ministry, Maryam Umar Yusuf, the minister expressed his displeasure when the leadership of the National Youth Leaders Forum of all political parties in Nigeria led by its chairman, Muhammed Awwal Musa, paid him a courtesy visit on Wednesday.
He urged the youths to rise up and learn a skill that would qualify them to be marketable and employable.
The minister said it was time to kick start a “One Youth, Two skills” campaign to empower the Nigerian youths.
“This is why the Ministry of youth development is spearheading initiatives to compel every young person in the country to have at least two skills that they can market.
“With the tagline, ‘One Youth, Two Skills,’ we want to emphasize that it is unacceptable and, indeed, an injustice for a youth in this country not to have a skill that he or she can deploy to earn a decent living,” the Minister said.
On his part, Musa, who commended the youth minister on his plans to empower the youths, noted that the forum had agreed to work with the Bola Tinubu administration irrespective of their political differences.
