A Professor of Economics in the University of Lagos, Prof.
Joe Umo has advocated for a national skill development system, stressing that
technical and vocational training be put in place to address the problem of
unemployment.

Umo, a professor of economics, made the suggestion while
presenting the keynote address at 53th Annual Conference of Nigeria Economic
Society (NES).

In his lecture entitled “Policies and Institutions for
Effective Youth Employment and Poverty Reduction in Nigeria’’, the professor
called for the the re-designing of the National Skill System.

He said that by turing the facilities of the National
Directorate of Employment (NDE) into modern Vocational Training Centres, the
measure would help in addressing the twin problem of poverty and unemployment
in the country.

“This is the only meaningful way that the NDE can contribute
to the solution of mass unemployment crises and poverty reduction in Nigeria.”

He recalled that over the last 30 years, the Federal
Government had executed 40 major programmes and projects designed to tackle the
challenges of unemployment and poverty reduction in Nigeria.

“Statistics of NDE operations between 2002 and 2006, the
average number of actual participants in its five programmes per year was about
108,000.

“Interpolate this number for 26 years of its operation and
it will be clear that NDE, would not have created more than three million jobs
in 26 years of operation.

“NDE as an institution is not being indicted here. It is
just that in finding a way forward, it needs to be noted that mass employment
problem in Nigeria has overwhelmed its capacity, despite having offices in all
the states of the federation.’’

While noting that there is no historical precedence of a
single institution fighting mass employment in any country, Umo said: “NDE has
infrastructure to be used in our proposed new framework”.

Umo also noted with concern that in spite of billions of
naira disbursed by NAPEP, the poverty situation had worsened.

According to him, the agency set up in 2001 to fight poverty
in the country, had executed about 22 sub-poverty programmes.

“As a stand alone institution, NAPEP, therefore, cannot be
relied upon to address Nigeria’s growing mass poverty, but can be adapted to
play a useful role in the strategy we shall present.”

“It has become very clear that no stand alone policy,
institution or programme can address Nigeria’s mass employment and poverty
crises.”

He concluded regrettably, that all poverty alleviation
programmes in the country had not achieved the desired results.

He, however, said that best practice templates for possible
adoption abound in Malaysia and Singapore.

The don, therefore, called for a generic approach to tackle
the twin problem of poverty and unemployment which, he said, could be
effectively addressed in a “general equilibrium context with employment
intensive investment as the arrowhead”.

“If Nigeria is to get out of the challenge of rescuing
millions of her youths from impending unemployment crisis, it must jettison
unworkable programmes and stand ready to put in place effective and innovative
solutions,” he said.