You do not need to have a certificate to get a job — Osinbajo

One of many pledges made by President Muhammadu Buhari during his campaign trail prior to 2015 general elections, is the creation of millions of jobs annually, in other to tackle the problem of unemployment in the country.



While the President is far from achieving this goal, the president has on a handful of occasions, reiterate his commitment toward lifting millions of Nigerians out of poverty.

The vice president has in same vein, called on Nigerians to not lose hope saying the Buhari administration remains committed toward a tackling unemployment in the country.




However, in a statement made yesterday at the 8th Graduation Ceremony and Entrepreneurship Seminar organised by Empowerment of the Less Privileged (ELP) Foundation, at Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Ikeja, Lagos, the vice President blamed the country’s growing unemployment rate on the prioritizing of certificates over skills and entrepreneurship.


According to the vice president, who was represented by the Minister of Youths and Sports Development, Mr Sunday Dare, the trend of institutions churning out graduates without requisite skills to thrive in the labour market was no longer tenable, especially in an era where paper qualification is no longer employers’ delight.



Calling for a paradigm shift in orientation, Osinbajo canvassed the need to dissipate more energy to skills acquisition among the youths than certificates so as to reduce the unemployment rate in the country.

Also speaking at the event, the founder of the Foundation, Dr Mike Okonkwo, stated that the event was part of efforts to bridge the unemployment gap in the country, noting that any society that breeds a population of unemployed youths was looking for trouble.


“Any society whose youths are unemployed is looking for trouble. That’s why I have taken it upon myself to groom youths. There are many youths with potentials in Nigeria, all they need is a push,” Okonkwo, who is also the presiding Bishop of the Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM), he said.