The Director General of the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), Mallam Abubarkar Mohammed and his management team have paid a fact-finding official visit to the Sheda Science and Technology Complex (SHESTCO), as part of on-going efforts to address unemployment crisis in the country and create wealth and jobs through science and research.

The visit, which has been described as highly successful, saw Mallam Abubarkar and his directors tour the different departments and laboratories at Sheda where they were lectured on various ways the two organisations could partner to generate thousands of jobs for several  unemployed youth.

Both the NDE director general and the Director General of SHESTCO, Professor S.A. Thomas agreed that the tour would be very beneficial in the present era when a large chunk of graduates in Nigerian higher institutions are unskilled, observing that university graduates and their polytechnic counterparts do not have the required skill in the labour market.

Giving the ongoing projects initiative at Sheda, Professor Thomas said the institute was into production of organic fertilisers, plant growth hormones, protein concentrates, animal feed, natural products/medicinal chemistry, training of postgraduate students and lecturers, as well as practical training of undergraduates and industrial attachments.

He also told the NDE team that the centre is into production of dye-sensitised solar cells, solar concentration and sun tracking system which the NDE can benefit from in training and providing jobs under their various programmes.

Professor Thomas, who commended the NDE for the visit said: “You have seen our humble efforts here, we will see where we can work together. I am sure you can find out one or two things that will directly impact on your agency.

“We are prepared to collaborate with you; the government should not be the only one everyone will be looking up to for employment.

As you have said, we talk of unemployment, but we find out that many of our graduates are not skilled at all and lack the required skill in the labour market.”

To have peace in the country, he pointed out that the nation’s resources must be channelled towards employment generation, adding that the NDE director general should find a channel upon which they can collaborate.

Mallam Abubarkar said the NDE realised that those who come out of the school system lack the skills demanded in labour market, hence the directorate developed trainings under its vocational skill development programme to make them marketable and employable, adding that the goal of NDE is to train job producers and not job seekers.

He said: “When we realised that our country is with abundant unemployment, abundant power shortage, abundant sun, we decided to go into the area of solar energy two years ago, there must be certain things we should be able to benefit from you, especially in the area of waste wealth. I thank you, but it is not possible for us to identify everything we want to do with you here.

“I brought my directors to see areas they would do a follow up. Our directors will go back, identify areas we can work on and partner together. I promise we shall take it up so that our nation will benefit and key into your services.”