‘60% of graduates unemployable’

THE Vice Chancellor of  Federal University of Technology (FUT), Minna, Prof. Mohammed Saliu Audu, has said  about 60 per cent of universities’ graduates cannot be employed. 

Speaking at the inauguration of the new Workstation Laboratory donated by SAPETRO and DANVIC International Limited to FUT, he said the sad development is not the fault of the students, but that it is caused by lack of infrastructure in the universities for them to learn and compete with other students.

His words: “Sixty per cent of our graduates are unemployable not because they do not have the brain to do the work, but because of lack of infrastructure. They do not have the right equipment to study. It is because of that we have been thinking that there is need for us to collaborate with industries. 

“There is need for us in Nigeria as they do abroad to have this kind of collaboration so that at the end of the day more than 90 per cent of our graduates will be employable even before they go for further studies after graduation. The Federal Government is very serious about that. We are also very serious about it. The organisations donated something to us last year and they are doing it again.”read more

The donation came with training for members of staff to use the equipment, which the VC admonished them to take seriously.

“I urged the teachers who will be trained on this equipment to take the training very seriously. 

“Having got this equipment and you do not make good use of it or convince people that you can use it properly, then when you go abroad and disgrace us, then it means that you are not going to get other equipment. 

“For the students, please when you go out there after your graduation, do not forget FUT Minna; you may be in a position to assist us to get more equipment not only for the Department of Geology, but also for other departments. I remember the Chemical Engineering department that is in dire need of equipment. I think other companies too should assist us. I think the Niger  State government should assist us.”

The Niger State Commissioner, Tertiary Education, Science and Technology, Dr. Mustapha Ibrahim Lemu, said the choice of the Geology Department of FUT Minna for the donation of the equipment could not have come by accident.

Represented by the Permanent Secretary, Mr. James Odera, the commissioner noted that the action  would complement the commitment of the state governor to promote science and technology, particularly through his Ministry as well as to fast-track the actualisation of state’s Vision 3: 20:20, which is to make the state one of the top three economics in the country by 20:20.

The Chief Executive Officer of SAPETRO, Martin Trachsel, said the company believes that one of the requisites of human capacity and nation building is education and that is why his firm and Danvic supported the initiative to provide  equipment software training and a world class geoscience workstation environment in Minna.                                   

Trachsel said: “A core objective of our company and our founder and Chairman Lt.-Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (Rtd) is to use the fruits of our efforts and investments in the oil and gas industry to help build a better Nigeria.”