‘Nigerian graduates: and the need for more than book knowledge to gain employment’

• 

A Personal Development and Leadership Coach, Mrs Olusayo Adeleye, says Nigerian graduates need more than book knowledge, to be gainfully employed in the 21st Century.

However, Mrs. Adeleye, the Executive Director of Support Toward Advancement, Networking and Development (STAND) Foundation, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan on Tuesday.

She also noted that obsolete educational curriculum made it difficult for Nigerian graduates to meet the demands of the every evolving competitive job market. “A lot of educationists have been clamouring for a change in our educational curriculum; the curriculum we operate in Nigeria now is just too obsolete. “We need urgent help; students are just being taught book knowledge that earned them paper certificates, which become worthless with each passing day.

 “I attended a training programme at a time and I realised that very soon, humans will be replaced by machines. “So, if you don’t acquire more knowledge and skills, especially in technology, you will realise that you have been left behind,” she said.

 Adeleye noted that Nigerian youths should be equipped with leadership skills to actualise the `youths are the leaders of tomorrow’ mantra. “Leadership skill is so important but a lot of our youths are not being equipped to be a leader. “I was not equipped to be a leader and I learned it the hard way. I learnt from my mistakes and that was why I decided to let people not make the same mistakes I made. “Our students are not being taught the necessary skills, needed to excel in life and to make impacts. “Soft skills like time management, self-confidence, team building, interpersonal relations are not taught in our schools,” she said. Adeleye urged Nigerian youths to be responsible for their own success, without waiting for government policies. “You have to develop and become a better version of yourself. “Be a person of value and be accountable for your own success through your choices, actions and behaviours. Stop waiting for external conditions or government actions. “As an individual, you have to invest in yourself through trainings and reading,” she said. Adeleye, however, appealed to the government to invest in raising educational standards in the country to ensure socio-economic development of Nigeria.

(NAN)