A professor of development economics and former Dean, Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences, University of Ibadan, Abiodun Bankole, has blamed employers for the growing perception that Nigerian graduates are unemployable.
Bankole, also a former Head of the Department of Economics, said the real problem is that many employers fail to train fresh graduates for specific roles.
He spoke in Ibadan at the graduation and send-off ceremony for the 2025 cohort of the Next Gen Ideate (NGI) programme of the Forerunners Welfare Foundation (FWF).
He questioned why employers demand job-ready graduates while ignoring their own responsibility to train new staff.
“The onus is on businesses to train fresh graduates before you give them assignments in your companies,” he said.
He added, “Maybe what they are saying now is that those graduates don’t have that level of training for specific job status despite their certification. But they should say it if that is their problem because ‘no employability’ means you can’t be employed at all.”
Bankole said the success of Nigerian-trained graduates abroad should push employers to look inward.
“The condemned Nigerian-trained graduates do excel when they travel overseas. That is where I see their (companies) failure, trying to cover their failings,” he said.
He urged students to prepare for the workplace before graduation by taking up internships and building the ability to adapt to industry demands.
Bankole also warned graduates not to expect to start their careers at the top.
The event was attended by the General Secretary of the Oyo State Muslim Community, Professor Taofeeq Yekinni, and the National President of the University of Ibadan Muslim Graduate Association, Alhaj Imran Abdulmojeed.
In his welcome address, FWF Chairman, Dr Ibrahim Hammed, said 22 young people graduated from the second cohort of the NGI programme after completing the training.
“They did not just pass; they survived a true trial by fire; they satisfied the unyielding criteria of resilience, accountability, and diligence against all odds,” he said.
In separate keynote lectures, legal practitioner Abdurrahman Abiola Ahmad and Engineer Ibrahim Ande urged the graduates to explore the opportunities available in the contemporary world.
Ahmad stressed the importance of building careers through cordial relationships with family, friends and colleagues, while encouraging the youths to pursue opportunities despite challenges.
Ande identified soft skills, including the ability to manage pressure and crises and effective communication, as important requirements in the workplace.
Earlier, the Chief Moderator of FWF, Engineer Muyiwa Tijani, said the organisation was established by some Muslim graduates of the University of Ibadan to support less privileged and younger generations of UI students and alumni.
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