The Federal Government has advised unemployed graduates in the country to stop seeking white-collar jobs, asking them to look elsewhere for sustainable alternatives.
A statement yesterday from the Office of the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, quoted him as giving the advice in Benin, Edo State, at a town hall meeting on Popularization of Blue/Green Collar Jobs among Graduates of Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria.
The minister, represented by Director, Special Duties and Projects Department in the ministry, Martina Nwordu, urged Nigerian youths to invest their talents in blue/green-collar jobs.
He stated: “The richest youth of the world, aged between 21 and 31 years, are not employees of government, but smart entrepreneurs who distinguished themselves in creative skills in various areas.”
He said the meeting, which held concurrently in four other geopolitical zones of the federation, was to sensitize representatives of key stakeholders in graduate employment on the benefits of blue/green-collar jobs as an alternative response to the challenges of graduate unemployment.
Ngige noted that the meeting was part of the activities in the Graduate Employability Enhancement Scheme, an initiative of his ministry, on how to break the resilience of high unemployment rate in the country.
