A Professor of Public Administration, Tunji Olaopa, has urged the Federal Government to harness Nigeria’s youth potential and boost education funding to drive national growth and sustainable development.
Olaopa made the call while delivering the 17th Convocation Lecture and Book Launch of Bells University of Technology, on Friday in Ogun State.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the lecture was titled “Re-Orientation of Nigerian Youths for National Development: Addressing Skills Mismatch and Unemployment.”
According to him, Nigeria’s youthful population constitutes about 70 per cent of the country’s total population, translating to approximately 95 million people.
The don noted that this makes Nigeria one of the countries with the largest youth populations in the world, and the largest on the African continent.
“Funding is key and fundamental issue in addressing infrastructural deficit and transforming higher education into a force in development planning.
“Also, these infrastructural deficit that affect higher education in terms of unreliable electricity, poor digital facilities, limited broadband access, undermine the human capital development and hinder the full utilisation of youth population, “he said.
Olaopa underscored the importance of re-training of teachers to pass required knowledge to students so that they could impact society positively.
The don emphasised the need for a strong human capital development drive to continually reinvent the knowledge society and economy, and to guide the nation through the dynamics of change.
Highlighting aspects of the skills mismatch, he noted a gap caused by curricula focused too heavily on theory rather than practical knowledge and skills that met societal and developmental needs.
He added that another challenge was the field-of-study mismatch, resulting from graduates being trained in disciplines not required by the Nigerian economy.
Olaopa urged universities to bridge these gaps by prioritising digital, vocational, and technical skills that would make youths relevant in the future workforce.
He also implored the federal and state governments to introduce policy incentives that would encourage industries to help address unemployment in the country.
In his welcome remarks, Prof. Jeremiah Ojediran, Vice-Chancellor of Bells University of Technology, said the convocation lecture was an open platform that offered notable individuals an opportunity to share ideas and insights.
Ojediran added that the lecture aimed to enlighten the public, draw government attention to critical issues, and inspire positive change in society.(NAN)