The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr Sunday Dare, has said the solution to the problem of unemployment in Nigeria today lies in entrepreneurship and acquiring of vocational skills by the youths.

Dare said this while delivering his speech titled, “Digital Literacy: A panacea for youth unemployment,” at the luncheon of the Government College Ibadan Old Boys Association.

The minister advised the youths on the need to harness the opportunities available in digital skills and entrepreneurship which he said the Federal Government had provided.

He said, “The solution to Nigeria’s youth unemployment does not only lie in formal education, but also in entrepreneurship, semi-formal and vocational education which is being encouraged in more attractive ways by the Federal Government.

“Under President Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria is changing the fundamentals of youth development by emphasising on training into enterprise, and investing directly in youth-owned businesses and ideas.”

“The Federal Government is passionate about the progress of the youth, at all levels and positions. We know the issues of unemployment are deep, and so we are working to be a step ahead of these challenges. Our solution does not lie in formal education alone, this is why we are encouraging the youth to engage entrepreneurship.”

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“To achieve this, we initiated a soft loan program named the National Youth Investment Fund (NYIF) to give a leap and serve as a spring board to our youths. I encourage the youths to apply themselves to the process and opportunities that abound around them, which will definitely make things better.”

“Equally, we have the Work Experience Program (WEP) for the graduates to gain cognate work experience from relevant firms, both private and public. This will give them a better head start in their job search.”

The Chairman of the GCIOBA association, Mr Wole Agbaje, commended Dare for his lecture, saying he showed deep understanding of the topic.

Agbaje said, “GCIOBA is known for intellectual contributions to state and nation building and we don’t invite just anybody to grace our occasions. We make sure that our guest speakers are personalities that will make intellectual contributions, so we are not surprised at the fantastic address of the honorable minister.”