{"id":116033,"date":"2025-07-30T16:59:43","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T20:59:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/?p=116033"},"modified":"2025-07-30T16:59:43","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T20:59:43","slug":"speaker-blames-unemployment-on-skills-deficit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/2025\/07\/30\/speaker-blames-unemployment-on-skills-deficit\/","title":{"rendered":"Speaker Blames Unemployment On Skills Deficit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, has expressed concern over the growing rate of underemployment<\/a> among Nigerian youth, attributing the issue to a widespread lack of technical and vocational skills essential for today\u2019s workforce.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Speaking through his representative, Auwal Gwadabe (PDP, Bauchi), during a public hearing held by the House Committee on Polytechnic and Higher Technical Education in Abuja on Wednesday, Abbas said approximately 55% of Nigeria\u2019s young population are underutilised due to skill deficiencies.<\/p>\n

He stressed that to reverse this trend, technical training and hands-on skill acquisition must be prioritised to equip the youth for evolving labour market demands. The Speaker added that the success of modern economies hinges on investments in scientific, technological, and vocational education.<\/p>\n

He said, \u201cThe main objective of establishing these higher technical institutions is to expand options for access to quality higher technical and vocational education for the Nigerian youth whose future development is negatively impacted by the absence of adequate provision of access to gain higher educational qualifications in technical and vocational education.<\/p>\n

\u201cAvailable statistics indicate that about 55 per cent of our youth are either unemployed or underemployed due to a shortage of practical and technical skills demanded by today\u2019s labour market.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following the emergence of new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Machine Learning and Big Data, the Speaker said theoretical knowledge is no longer enough to compete in today\u2019s labour market.<\/p>\n

\n

Read also: Crypto Traders: Binance Exit May Aggravate Youth Unemployment<\/a><\/strong><\/h1>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cWe must, therefore, equip our youth with practical skills that will enable them to thrive in an ever-evolving, technologically driven job market and be up to date with the trends in the tech ecosystem.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 10th House, \u2018The People\u2019s House\u2019, is a responsive institution that recognises the critical importance of technical education as a key driver in actualising our national economic reform and growth.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is for this reason that we,\u00a0 through our 10th Legislative Agenda ensure that technical education in Nigeria must not only be qualitative, but also be accessible.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Chairman of the Committee, Kayode Laguda, said the bills are important because they seek to promote entrepreneurship studies and skill acquisition to empower Nigerians with skills to become employable, create jobs and excel anywhere, particularly in their various constituencies.<\/p>\n

Sponsor of one of the bills, Solomon Wombo, said the proposed Federal College of Entrepreneurship and Skills Acquisition in Zaki Biam, Benue State, is intended to bridge the gaps in entrepreneurship knowledge and skills.<\/p>\n

He said, \u201cThis initiative is critical for several reasons. Beyond optimising our human and natural resources for productivity and catalysing social change, it is a key driver of innovation. The bill outlines a skills-based curriculum aimed at equipping students for careers in industry, commerce, agriculture, and various vocations.<\/p>\n

He noted that, more significantly, the concept of entrepreneurship incubation provided a strategic solution to the alarming rise in youth unemployment, along with the associated threats to political stability, social cohesion, and economic progress. According to him, the initiative was designed to enhance capacity and competence within the micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) sector, which he described as the backbone of Nigeria\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n

Africa Today News, New York<\/a><\/strong><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, has expressed concern over the growing rate of underemployment among Nigerian youth, attributing the issue to a widespread lack of technical and vocational skills essential for today\u2019s workforce. Speaking through his representative, Auwal Gwadabe (PDP, Bauchi), during a public hearing held by the House Committee on Polytechnic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":116035,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6928],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-116033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nSpeaker Blames Unemployment On Skills Deficit<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, has expressed concern over the growing rate of underemployment among\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/2025\/07\/30\/speaker-blames-unemployment-on-skills-deficit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Speaker Blames Unemployment On Skills Deficit\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, has expressed concern over the growing rate of underemployment among\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/2025\/07\/30\/speaker-blames-unemployment-on-skills-deficit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Africa Today News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/africatodaynewsonline\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-30T20:59:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Abbas-Tajudeen-2-960x534-1.jpeg?v=1753909072\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"960\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"534\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Staff001\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@atndaily\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@atndaily\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Staff001\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/2025\/07\/30\/speaker-blames-unemployment-on-skills-deficit\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/2025\/07\/30\/speaker-blames-unemployment-on-skills-deficit\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Staff001\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5008c3abe6f96b660905c680e145fe70\"},\"headline\":\"Speaker Blames Unemployment On Skills Deficit\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-30T20:59:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-30T20:59:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/2025\/07\/30\/speaker-blames-unemployment-on-skills-deficit\/\"},\"wordCount\":535,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/2025\/07\/30\/speaker-blames-unemployment-on-skills-deficit\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Abbas-Tajudeen-2-960x534-1.jpeg?v=1753909072\",\"articleSection\":[\"Feature\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/2025\/07\/30\/speaker-blames-unemployment-on-skills-deficit\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/2025\/07\/30\/speaker-blames-unemployment-on-skills-deficit\/\",\"name\":\"Speaker Blames Unemployment On Skills Deficit\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/2025\/07\/30\/speaker-blames-unemployment-on-skills-deficit\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/2025\/07\/30\/speaker-blames-unemployment-on-skills-deficit\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Abbas-Tajudeen-2-960x534-1.jpeg?v=1753909072\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-30T20:59:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-30T20:59:43+00:00\",\"description\":\"Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, has expressed concern over the growing rate of underemployment among\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/2025\/07\/30\/speaker-blames-unemployment-on-skills-deficit\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/2025\/07\/30\/speaker-blames-unemployment-on-skills-deficit\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Abbas-Tajudeen-2-960x534-1.jpeg?v=1753909072\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Abbas-Tajudeen-2-960x534-1.jpeg?v=1753909072\",\"width\":960,\"height\":534,\"caption\":\"Speaker Blames Unemployment On Skills Deficit\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/\",\"name\":\"Africa Today News\",\"description\":\"Breaking News from Africa\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"People & Polity Inc. New York\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/atn-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/atn-logo.png\",\"width\":233,\"height\":39,\"caption\":\"People & Polity Inc. New York\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/africatodaynewsonline\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/atndaily\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5008c3abe6f96b660905c680e145fe70\",\"name\":\"Staff001\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88765ca208af364ea5202e1f88da649c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88765ca208af364ea5202e1f88da649c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Staff001\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/author\/staff001\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Speaker Blames Unemployment On Skills Deficit","description":"Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, has expressed concern over the growing rate of underemployment among","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/2025\/07\/30\/speaker-blames-unemployment-on-skills-deficit\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Speaker Blames Unemployment On Skills Deficit","og_description":"Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, has expressed concern over the growing rate of underemployment among","og_url":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/2025\/07\/30\/speaker-blames-unemployment-on-skills-deficit\/","og_site_name":"Africa Today News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/africatodaynewsonline\/","article_published_time":"2025-07-30T20:59:43+00:00","og_image":[{"width":960,"height":534,"url":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Abbas-Tajudeen-2-960x534-1.jpeg?v=1753909072","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Staff001","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@atndaily","twitter_site":"@atndaily","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Staff001","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/2025\/07\/30\/speaker-blames-unemployment-on-skills-deficit\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/2025\/07\/30\/speaker-blames-unemployment-on-skills-deficit\/"},"author":{"name":"Staff001","@id":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5008c3abe6f96b660905c680e145fe70"},"headline":"Speaker Blames Unemployment On Skills Deficit","datePublished":"2025-07-30T20:59:43+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-30T20:59:43+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/2025\/07\/30\/speaker-blames-unemployment-on-skills-deficit\/"},"wordCount":535,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/2025\/07\/30\/speaker-blames-unemployment-on-skills-deficit\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Abbas-Tajudeen-2-960x534-1.jpeg?v=1753909072","articleSection":["Feature"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/2025\/07\/30\/speaker-blames-unemployment-on-skills-deficit\/","url":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/2025\/07\/30\/speaker-blames-unemployment-on-skills-deficit\/","name":"Speaker Blames Unemployment On Skills Deficit","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/2025\/07\/30\/speaker-blames-unemployment-on-skills-deficit\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/2025\/07\/30\/speaker-blames-unemployment-on-skills-deficit\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Abbas-Tajudeen-2-960x534-1.jpeg?v=1753909072","datePublished":"2025-07-30T20:59:43+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-30T20:59:43+00:00","description":"Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, has expressed concern over the growing rate of underemployment among","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/2025\/07\/30\/speaker-blames-unemployment-on-skills-deficit\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/2025\/07\/30\/speaker-blames-unemployment-on-skills-deficit\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Abbas-Tajudeen-2-960x534-1.jpeg?v=1753909072","contentUrl":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Abbas-Tajudeen-2-960x534-1.jpeg?v=1753909072","width":960,"height":534,"caption":"Speaker Blames Unemployment On Skills Deficit"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/","name":"Africa Today News","description":"Breaking News from Africa","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/#organization","name":"People & Polity Inc. New York","url":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/atn-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/atn-logo.png","width":233,"height":39,"caption":"People & Polity Inc. New York"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/africatodaynewsonline\/","https:\/\/x.com\/atndaily"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5008c3abe6f96b660905c680e145fe70","name":"Staff001","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88765ca208af364ea5202e1f88da649c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88765ca208af364ea5202e1f88da649c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Staff001"},"url":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/author\/staff001\/"}]}},"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":"","source_text":"","source_url":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116033"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116033\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":116036,"href":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116033\/revisions\/116036"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}