By Ademola Ade
Stakeholders in Nigeria’s education and employment sectors have called for sweeping reforms of the education system, improved teachers’ welfare and stronger partnerships between schools and industry to tackle unemployment and accelerate industrialisation.
They also advocated the establishment of community-based career guidance centres to help young people and other job seekers acquire relevant skills, identify employment opportunities and navigate the transition from education to work.
The stakeholders spoke at Symposium 5.0, organised by For the Love of Country, an initiative convened by Atinuke Odjenima. The event had the theme, “Building a Prosperous Future: Re-engineering Education and Driving Industrialisation for Innovation, Productivity and Jobs.”
The discussions centred on bridging the gap between education and employment by equipping young people with practical skills, improving work readiness and aligning academic programmes with industry needs.
Speaking at the symposium, Mrs Adetoun Adewolu-Ogwo called for the establishment of community-based career guidance centres, which she described as “career lighthouses”, to provide job information, mentorship, skills guidance and personalised support for unemployed people.
She said Nigeria faced the contradiction of widespread unemployment alongside complaints from employers that they struggled to find workers with the skills required for available jobs.
According to her, the situation highlights the need to rethink the relationship between education, skills acquisition and the labour market.
Adewolu-Ogwo said the proposed centres, located at community and local government levels, would help young people identify career paths suited to their interests and abilities while linking them with appropriate training and employment opportunities.
“Education should not be seen as a destination or a stopping point. Instead, we should see it as a journey, an ecosystem, and a transition system that contributes to national development,” she said.
She argued that a university degree alone was insufficient preparation for the labour market, stressing the importance of practical experience, critical thinking, vocational training and problem-solving skills.
She also called for inclusive learning opportunities for people without formal educational qualifications, saying they should have access to training and support that would enable them to develop their abilities and contribute productively to society.
The speaker emphasised the need for reliable labour market information to help young people make informed career choices in sectors such as teaching, agriculture and entrepreneurship.
She urged government institutions, parents, communities, civil society organisations, religious institutions and the media to work together to identify and nurture individual potential.
While acknowledging previous government interventions, including the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) and YouWiN!, Adewolu-Ogwo said Nigeria’s challenge was not necessarily a lack of policies but the effective implementation of existing initiatives.
She welcomed efforts to establish career centres in universities but argued that similar facilities were needed at the community level to reach people who could not access higher education.
Adewolu-Ogwo urged policymakers and other stakeholders to adopt a coordinated approach to career development, skills acquisition and job creation, saying the country needed to harness its human potential for sustainable economic growth.
Also speaking, Oluwaseyi Anifowose, founder of the Initiative for Let There Be Teachers Foundation, called for comprehensive reforms in teacher education, better welfare for teachers and stricter implementation of existing education policies.
He said meaningful educational transformation would remain difficult without qualified, motivated and adequately supported teachers.
Anifowose distinguished between schooling and education, arguing that genuine education should go beyond certificates to equip people with the knowledge and skills needed to identify societal problems and develop practical solutions.
He expressed concern over the apparent lack of interest in teaching among young Nigerians, recalling that when he asked an audience of more than 500 people how many were willing to become teachers, only two or three indicated an interest.
According to him, the response raised concerns about the country’s ability to attract committed and capable people into a profession central to national development.
He called for a review of admission standards into colleges of education, arguing that the institutions should attract some of Nigeria’s brightest candidates rather than be viewed as a last resort for those unable to gain admission into other higher institutions.
Anifowose said improving the quality of teachers required stronger recruitment and training processes, alongside sustained professional support.
He added that commitment to teaching must be matched with adequate remuneration, continuous professional development and access to the resources needed for effective classroom instruction.
He urged governments and other stakeholders to make the profession more attractive through competitive pay and improved working conditions.
Sustainable education reform, he said, must put teachers at the centre of policy decisions and ensure that commitments translate into meaningful improvements in classrooms.
In her remarks, the convener, Atinuke Odjenima, called for a fundamental shift in Nigeria’s educational priorities, urging policymakers to place greater emphasis on practical competence rather than academic certificates alone.
She said greater attention should be paid to what people could do with the knowledge they acquired, arguing that education should promote research, innovation and practical problem-solving.
Odjenima stressed that closer collaboration between educational institutions and industry was essential to improving employability, creating jobs and raising productivity.
She urged industry stakeholders to contribute to the development and periodic review of academic curricula to ensure that students acquired knowledge and practical skills relevant to changing economic realities and workplace demands.
Educational institutions, she added, should continually generate knowledge, encourage innovation and develop solutions to societal and industrial challenges.
The convener also identified funding as a major factor in educational transformation, saying responsibility for financing the sector should not rest solely on government.
She called on the private sector and industry players to invest in education, research, innovation and projects in schools and universities.
Such partnerships, she said, could strengthen research capacity, expand learning opportunities and better prepare young people to contribute to national development.
Odjenima further advocated an inclusive education system that integrates formal education with vocational training and other learning pathways to meet the economy’s diverse needs.
She maintained that practical and vocational skills were essential to economic growth and nation-building and deserved greater recognition alongside conventional academic qualifications.
