Agaju Madugba, Katsina

President Muhammadu Buhari said, on Saturday, that the Federal Government was committed to tackling the challenge of unemployment, especially graduate unemployment in the country.

According to President Buhari, “This is to be achieved through the creation of thriving and dynamic labour market that will enable young people achieve their full potentials as self-employed entrepreneurs and employers of labour rather than merely job seekers.”

The President spoke on in a message he sent to  the second and third combined convocation ceremony of the Federal University, Dutsin Ma (FUDMA), Katsina State.

Executive secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Abubakar Rasheed, represented President Buhari at the ceremony.

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According to the President, “in this regard, government has mandated the NUC to develop a blueprint that will adequately respond to the rapidly changing skills needs of the Nigerian graduate market.

“Such effort should identify and develop new strategic initiatives in skills development and training; facilitate effective collaboration between universities and employers and improve long-term opportunities and aspirations of educated young people, to obtain higher value enterprise-related careers.

“Universities are supposed to be strong drivers of society’s development initiatives as well as provide leadership role in coordinating activities for sustainable development.

“So, apart from graduating students who are expected to contribute their knowledge to develop the economy, universities are too engage in groundbreaking research in all fields of human endeavour and disseminate same to the society.”

The President urged the graduands to explore opportunities embedded in Federal Government’s economic diversification agenda, which he said were aimed at weaning the country from over-dependence on the oil sector and achieve sustainable economic prosperity.