VC advocates job fair to tackle unemployment

The acting Vice Chancellor, University of Abuja, Prof. Aisha Maikudi, says job fairs will help tackle the spate of unemployment in the country.

Maikudi, represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor Administration, Prof. Philip Afaha, said this at the first international conference on business management and job fair, in Abuja.

The theme was “Realigning Current Economic Realities in Emerging Economies to Sustainable Business Practices.’’

“We don’t have to sit back and keep grumbling and complaining that the country needs to wake up.

“I keep telling my students that no government has failed, it’s just that we keep doing the same thing, we keep depending on crude oil, among others.

“These are simple basic things that worked in the 19th century, it worked in some parts of the 20th century. These particular templates will not work in the 21st century. We collect all the taxes, we sell all our petroleum; it’s not going to work.

“The world has moved beyond selling of natural resources. The world has moved beyond that level to a level where people have to deploy their intellect to see how the economies work.”

The Director, Abuja Business School, Prof. Issa Abdulraheem, said that to break the gap between academics and the industry, academic programmes must gear towards identifying and solving problems.

“It is one thing to be in the classroom, it is another thing to look at the implementation of this policy in real life situation.

“So, the conference is looking at what the government is trying to do, what the government is doing and what the government will want to do with the economic realities that the society is now looking at the issues whether this policy will be relevant or beneficial to them.

“So, at the end of this conference we will now look at the opinions of people, either government representatives as well as academics and say how to bridge the gap.”