Why Many Graduates Aren’t Employable – FUTA VC
THECONSCIENCE NG reports that the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Prof. Adenike Oladiji, has stated the reason many graduates remain unemployed.
According to him, “Many graduates today are unemployed, not because there are no jobs, but because they lack the necessary skills.”
He announced that a former Minister of Defence, Prince Adetokunbo Kayode (SAN), will deliver the institution’s 36th Convocation Lecture on Friday.
The lecture, titled “Strategies and Tactics for Solving Skills Challenges in Nigeria: The Roles of Government, Institutions, and the Youth,” will explore policy-driven approaches to addressing Nigeria’s growing skills gap—a theme that the university emphasizes as crucial for tackling unemployment and promoting innovation.
Prof. Oladiji noted that this event signifies a policy shift in how universities connect classroom learning with real-world employability.
“This lecture will help them understand how to acquire practical and relevant skills that the economy demands,”
For the first time in FUTA’s history, the convocation lecture will hold on the same day as the award of degrees to 2,747 graduating students a deliberate strategy to ensure graduands directly benefit from the keynote insights.
The VC explained that “The decision is both symbolic and strategic. Convocation lectures are meant for students who are transitioning into the larger society.
“Holding both events together allows them to engage immediately with the knowledge and ideas shared.”
She emphasized that the lecture’s theme aligns with national calls for a skills-based education policy, in which universities and industries collaborate to create employment-ready graduates.
Speaking on the choice of guest lecturer, the Vice Chancellor described Prince Kayode as “a leader whose career cuts across governance, law, labour, and culture — bringing both policy experience and practical understanding of how to develop human capital for national progress.”
Prince Kayode, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and former Minister of Labour, Employment, Culture and Tourism, Justice, and Defence, is expected to provide a broad policy perspective on how the government, institutions, and youth can collectively reposition Nigeria’s workforce for global competitiveness.
