Enugu State Government, ESUT to Join Forces to Tackle Unemployment Through Skills Acquisition

The Enugu State government, says it is collaborating with the Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) to equip Enugu students with skills that would enable them become self-reliant after graduation.

The State Commissioner for Labour and Employment, Mr Chika Ugwuoke, stated this when he visited the Vice-Chancellor of ESUT, Prof Aloysius-Michaels Okolie, on Thursday in Enugu ahead of a planned Career and Employability summit for Enugu students in their penultimate years.

The meeting involved Okolie and his Entrepreneurship Development team led by Prof Uche Ugwuanyi,as well as the Head of Department of labour in the ministry.

Speaking during the visit, the commissioner said the purpose was to chart a collaborative course for realignment of academic activities to equip Enugu indigenes in ESUT with skills that would be fit for purpose in the 21st century upon graduation.

The partnership, he said, would be based on the areas of technology and digital economy targeted at reducing unemployment in the state

According to him, ESUT and others are our hope for a productive workforce to compliment Gov. Mbah’s developmental strides.

While acknowledging the great job the vice chancellor was doing in ESUT, Ugwuoke described the university and other higher institutions in Enugu state as the crucibles for moulding the labour force of the future for Enugu and beyond.

He enumerated the plans of Gov. Mbah’s government in the direction to include: skills acquisition by undergraduates, career guidance,internships and placements ,research and development support and the promotion of employability skills whilst at the university.

These he said, would equip them to be ready for the outside world, emphasizing that the transition phase from undergraduates to graduates can be a challenging stage in the lives of youths.

The commissioner who described Mbah as a youth oriented governor pledged that the government would regularly engage with students more than before, promising to take the insightful message of the VC back to the governor for integration into the work plan of his excellency’s administration.

He later inspected the gigantic faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences under construction in the campus,a project that was resurrected by Okolie.

Earlier, Okolie who expressed delight over the meeting praised the commissioner for the collaborative approach he was adopting and offered to give 100 per cent support to the state government in any area he was called upon.

Towards sustainability of such laudable goals, the VC appealed for more attention to be paid to the welfare of existing labour force to ensure that they were handing down the right knowledge and skills to the younger generation.

He explained how that collaboration with the private sector had helped him attract great developments to the university.

The vice-Chancellor expressed his eagerness to partner with the ministry and called for a structured action plan to guide both sides.