The Rector of Crown Maritime Academy, Mr. Martins Okechukwu, has advised youths to engage in result-oriented and practical studies in solving issues, as a way to tackling the high rate of unemployment in the country.
He said this at the convocation ceremony of the academy, which was held recently for graduating students of the academy in Lagos.
The rector suggested that vocational education was the solution to gainful employment in the country.
He said that through the acquisition of skills, individuals could become independent and self-employed.
“There is no better security for our future happiness than self- employment, creating employment for others in the society. The major problem in many developing nations like Nigeria today, is the inability of the economy to absorb the teeming number of graduates from the university and other tertiary institutions.
“This thereby necessitates the need for a practical and result- oriented approach to addressing the problem of unemployment across the country, in order to avert any disastrous consequence.”
The rector stated that the number of graduates was not supposed to be higher than the number of jobs available in the country.
He, therefore, attributed the rate of poverty in the country to the higher number of graduates, which is more than the available jobs.
Also speaking at the event, the Deputy Rector, Mr. Adebayo Kazeem, advised the outgoing students to put into practice what they learned in school, by engaging themselves in entrepreneurial activities to beat the challenge of unemployment.
In his address, the special guest of honour, Alhaji Abdullahi, identified the problem with most private maritime training institutions in Nigeria as, a disconnect between the institution owners the Federal government.
He however lamented that some of the institutions lacked qualified lecturers, inadequate training centres and lack of basic infrastructure.
Fifteen students were certified with the award of Higher National Diploma in Administration and Maritime concerns from the four existing departments.
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