Management and human resources expert, Fola Ogunsola, has affirmed that over 80 per cent of graduates of Nigerian universities do not meet the expectations of employers.

Speaking to Sunday Independent at a one-day seminar organised by the University of Lagos and the Fola Ogunsola Foundation (FOF) for the institution’s final year students, at the weekend, Ogunsola maintained that Nigerian graduates do not know that they are not employable as they exhibit a lot of pride, lack skills and the right attitude to impress prospective employers.

These, she said, account for the army of unemployed graduates in the country, even as a lot of Nigerian graduates barely know how to write basis letters and do follow-ups on projects.

Ogunsola said that her foundation was set up to assist in reducing the unemployment rate in Nigeria by redirecting graduates to make them understand the realities of their situation and improve for the better.

The “Life After Campus Seminar” of the foundation is billed to go round Nigerian tertiary institutions, to teach students skills and work attitudes that would position them for gainful employment with ease.

So far, she said, FOF has held such seminars in tertiary instructions in Lagos, Ekiti, Oyo and Ogun states; moreover, students in several other institutions in the country can benefit from the programme, if there is support from the private and public sector.

Ogunsola added that FOF has a finishing school where skills are taught to graduates free of charge, even as business people, professionals and professors are invited to handle them.

She disclosed that from the finishing school, the graduates are sent on internship in related firms to empower them and make them employable and 80 per cent usually get full employment during the period.

Ogunsola added that some of the products of the foundation’s finishing school, who cannot get jobs after their internship, are assisted in becoming self-employed, even as all of them are given proficiency certificates.

The seminar, with the theme “Skill Required for a Dynamic and Challenging 21st Century Working Environment”, which attracted thousands of University of Lagos students and the general public, was handled by several business and industry professionals.

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