Bridging the Gap in the Labour Market

Life could be so boring and frustrating, especially when one is willing to work but could found none, not only will the thought of committing crimes pricks your mind, but sometimes in some cases, suicide is attempted.

Getting a job in a weak or underperforming economy could be challenging as there are no jobs in the country.

Even after submitting CVs, attending interviews, the pendulum fails to swing in your directions as god father and mother help their candidates that are preferred, at the end of the day, you were ruled out.

The system of education we practice here only thought us how to read, write and acquire paper certificates, with little attention given to skills acquisition.

Remember, there are millions of people in your shoe. Not getting that job you crave for does not mean you are lazy, it means something is lacking or some other options have not been tried. The world is changing, so is the idea of our time, from analog to digital. The future of Africa lies in two things- Agriculture and Information Communication Technology (ICT). These two things are at the tip of our finger. They are not rocket science

The Revolution in Agriculture

Few persons have taken the idea of getting skills in agriculture related field, and they have not regretted it. let’s look at it from this angle, is there a day that passes by that one doesn’t eat food? Absolutely no. The population of the world will soon clock Nine Billion persons and everyone must feed.

The market for food is huge and will never fall, rather demand will surpass supply. Only those in the system understand how it works. Producing foods and rearing animals have been making people millionaires.

Currently, there is revolution in Fish production, Poultry farming, Pig farming, rice farming to mention but a few, young people should be taking the lead in the agriculture. The need for government support is paramount, as capital is needed for any business to grow.

The present administration headed by Mr. Buhari, has closed the borders against rice and some other importation, making rice production lucrative for production. And the ever increasing demands for rice is a culture that can never be broken for decades to come.

The returns on rice is very high, there is no one who ventures into rice production and ran at a loss- the formal minister of agriculture alleged. Going into rice production is easy, the techniques are not too cumbersome.

Another area of agriculture gaining the ground all over is Poultry farming. The demand for   animal protein is on the high side, thousands of restaurants and food vendors are in dear need of poultry meat and egg, making the market open to any competitors

Information Communication Technology

On like agriculture, ICT is still undergoing development in Africa, the continent is far back in the application of ICT in our day to day life, but recent events have shown a reliable future in the world of information and communication technology.

The sector has attracted massive investment in the last two decades, although more than 60% of our population is yet to embrace this new innovation. The ICT is mostly left for   the young and vibrant population.

This trend is changing as government partners with stake holders in the educational industry to change the fortune and spread the gospel of ICT at the grassroots.   

App Development, Visual Automation, Digital Marketing, Blogging, E-commerce to mention but a few are technologies current used by young people to fast-track the growth of the economy and creating decent employment.

Virtually everything around us is technology driven, cities are going smart, buying and selling are now much alive online via e-commerce, the world is now a global village through information communication technology.

Agriculture and ICT are the future and hope of Nigeria and Africa, it is capable of empowering more than 30% of the population.  Young men and women don’t need to wait on the government to take advantage of these sectors as investment pours in.

If we could harness, take advantage and dominate the ICT and Agricultural sectors of our economy, we will not just be gainfully employed but be an employer of labour, easing the congested labour market and stimulating growth.