Information Technology (IT) training centre, New Horizons is partnering the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) to launch Skills for Employment and Enterprise (SEE), which offered estimated 10,000 graduates jobs.
The managing director, New Horizons, Mr. Tim Akano, told newsmen during a chat in Lagos, recently, that this process would tackle the problem of graduate unemployment in Nigeria.
“Over 10,000 unemployed graduates were empowered at the launching of SEE programmes, which also served as the 4th national job Fair organised by New Horizons Nigeria,” he said.
This year, he said, was unique in several dimensions, noting that one of such was that the National Directorate of Employment decided back the job fair with its federal might.
Secondly, he said, the event witnessed foreign speakers from America and thirdly, the event took place in two cities, namely the National Stadium, Lagos and Ibadan with unprecedented number of participants.
Also, he said, the launching of SEE has become imperative in Nigeria against the background of the wide skill gaps that exist today between the industry requirement and what the university graduates have.
Feedback from various employers, Akano said, have shown that today’s university graduates do not posses readymade skills that would make them hit the ground running from their first day in the office.
“This is why the Graduate Trainee programme which used to take one year in most multinationals in the past now takes three years,” he said.
Additionally, he attributed this to why some multinationals now prefer to hire Asians to do jobs which Nigerians could do even better with additional training.
SEE project, he said, would empower the Nigerian graduates not only in Information Technology skills like Microsoft, Cisco, Oracle, IT-Security among others, but also with skills in personal branding, customer service, executive etiquette, selling skill, communication and leadership and entrepreneurship.
This, he said, would take an average of three months and upon completion, graduates would be assisted with job placement as Industrial attaché in banks, telecoms, manufacturing and other companies.
“It is our expectation that those who excel as industrial attaché will be readily absorbed by the organisations. Secondly, for those who would like to be wealth creators, the skills acquired during the three months SEE programme would have prepared them to start a small scale business in Information Technology as a consultant to major organisations,” he said.
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