The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) has advised unemployed Nigerians to acquire the requisite knowledge and skills to strengthen their capacity for better opportunities in the labour market.

The directorate’s procurement director, Aliyu Abubakar, gave the advice in an interview on Sunday in Abuja at the sidelines of the third national Zakat Day of the Al-Habibiyyah Foundation.

The theme of the event was: `Combating Poverty.’

Mr Abubakar said one of the major causes of poverty and joblessness was the lack of marketable skills among job seekers in the country.

”The major cause of poverty is lack of marketable skills; our educational system is knowledge-driven because we are only concerned with academic pursuits and not practical skills.

”To some extent, we get certificates that can not put food on the table, and I believe we should deviate from this; we should give opportunities to the unemployed.

“I mean all the categories of unemployed people should be given the opportunities to acquire marketable skills required in the labour market.

“Because many of our young people go to acquire knowledge without getting the requisite skills and job counselling, Job counselling services are free in the National Directorate of Employment,” he said.

The NDE director also advised the unemployed to always go for counselling services suitable to their careers.

“So that we can run away from the present situation of skills mismatch because people have acquired knowledge and skills for which there is no demand in the labour market.

”You can come for job counselling so that you will acquire the right skills for which there is demand in the labour market,” Mr Abubakar said.

According to him, one of the challenges faced in the process is the ability of people to access capital for the startup.

”Even if you have the skills, the question of startup capital is very important because you have to pool resources together to start the business.

”This is because the time will come when startup capital will only be given to people with acquired skills so that they can use it to get involved in income-generating activities that can create wealth for them.

”So, people must acquire entrepreneurial skills to enable them to find suitable jobs,” Mr Abubakar said. 

(NAN)