Ninety million of Nigeria’s over 200 million population, are unemployed youths, the   National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Executive Secretary,  Prof.  Idris Muhammad Bugaje,  has said.

According to him, there are also  10 million out-of-school children, the majority of whom  are Almajiris  in the country.

He said at the annual general meeting of the Science and Technology Forum (STF) in Kaduna, Kaduna State, that he was particularly disturbed that the majority of the unemployed youths are graduates.

Bugaje blamed the high rate of unemployment for the security challenges in the country.

The NBTE  Executive Secretary, therefore,  urged governments at all levels to work towards ensuring that unemployed youths acquired skills, especially after their graduation.

He added the board would by next year, not accredit “any course without TVET” component in educational institutions.

The board’s helmsman also expressed worry over the existence of a group of unemployed youths in Kano called the anarchist. He said that the group had resolved to engage in the destruction of government installations.

He, therefore, called on the state government to check the activities of the group “now that it is small” before it becomes a monster.

He said:  ”As we speak, the unemployment rate is alarming.

There are about 90 million unemployed youths in the country and the majority of them are graduates.

“Bangladesh supply it youths with skills to countries lik e Saudi Arabia and others as artisans at the end, they get foreign currency to take home. So why can’t we train our youths on skills acquisition?

”This is why we are mandating our tertiary institutions to ensure they offer training on Technical Vocational Education Training TVET because we are hoping that by next year, we will not offer accreditation to any course without the institutions offering courses on TVET.

“There is a group of unemployed youths springing up in Kano. They are called the anarchists. They say they have been abandoned by the government and therefore they would be destroying all government installations they come across. It is a small group for now, but we need to take action now before the group grows and becomes another serious security threat to the country.”

The NBTE boss urged the Federal Government to ensure that skill acquisition courses are given priority in tertiary institutions as a solution to the high unemployment In the country.

Outgoing President of STF, Prof. Ibrahim Mohammed-Dabo said the forum was established 20 years ago by patriotic Nigerian scientists and engineers of northern extraction for the purpose of promoting science and technology for the development of the North.

Culled from www.thenationonlineng.net

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