FG - The Project Director, Graduate Internship Scheme, Mr. Peter Papka, has said that the Federal Government plans through the GIS to enhance the employability of at least 50,000 unemployed graduates in the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory by improving their skills through work placement.
He identified skill and entrepreneurship developments as potent strategies to reduce the high rate of graduate unemployment in the country.
Papka, who was represented by the organisation's Head of Information and Communication Technology, Mr. Lassa Ptilapari, spoke during graduate internship opportunities fair in Ilorin on Tuesday.
He stated that the Federal Government recognised that all stakeholders at federal, state and local governments, organised private sector, development organisations and religious bodies must resolve to contribute to reversing unemployment for the efforts to be effective.
He added that though the Federal Government was committed to addressing unemployment, the government could not do it alone, adding that manpower development remained critical for the attainment of the Vision 20:2020.
According to him, the fair is designed to create more awareness and bring together partnering firms and aspiring interns for an on-the-spot selection.
He said this was aimed at creating avenue for only registered graduates to make themselves available for selection, among others.
Papka says the GIS, which is one of the interventions of Federal Government's Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme, is a platform that provides young graduates with a one-year temporary work experience to make them stronger candidates for job openings in the labour market as well as boosting their chances of being self employed.
He said, "The graduate internship opportunities fair is probably the first to hold in Nigeria, providing a platform for the reduction of vulnerability among unemployed Nigerian graduates.
"Internship from our experience, provides soft landing for many graduates in finding solution for their lives either through jobs or entrepreneurship. It is our hope that this practice will be sustained as a veritable unemployment reduction tool.
"Other efforts that GIS is using to drastically reduce unemployment include strategic partnership in the area of export training, creative industries, environment, financial inclusion, agriculture, education and ICT. Many registered graduates will find inclusion in one of these sectors in the coming months."
Source: Punch