Bank seeks strong institutions to build job seekers’ proficiencies

WORRIED by the growing rate of unemployment in Nigeria, the Group Head, Strategy and Communications, Sterling Bank Plc, Shina Atilola has urged Nigeria to focus on strong institutions that will equip job seekers to become employable.

Speaking in Lagos at the 2015 edition of Sterling Bank’s “Get Ready for Work” initiative, titled “Mind T he Gap”, Atilola said: “Our institutions are not prepared to take job seekers into the employment stage.

According to him, some people are qualified, but are not employable because there is no structure or institution to train them for a work environment.

He noted that Nigeria needs great entrepreneurs since great economies across the world are being stabilised by Small and Medium Scale enterprises, which calls for initiatives that focus on honing of talents and skills that are even unknown to people .

“In Nigeria, we have a lot of youths who are entrepreneurial but there is no good environment for them to exercise their talents. What Sterling bank is doing is to bring entrepreneurs to speak to them, encourage them and mentor them. Besides, those who don’t want to start their business but are willing to work in career employment would be spoken to by people who have built their careers,” Atilola disclosed.

Speaking about the recent decision of JP Morgan to delist Nigeria from its Government Bond Index-Emerging Market, Atilola said: “We have started seeing the effects of JP Morgan delisting because foreign investors are taking their money away, but I am a strong believer in Nigeria and what we have to do is to look inward to help ourselves,”

He stated that the best place to invest in the world is Nigeria. “We have the human, natural and every other resource, but we need to exploit them now,” Atilola added.

According to him, the decision, premised around foreign-exchange transactions policy, should compel us to take advantage of the huge investment opportunities in the country without necessarily looking outside .

He noted that there are opportunities for people to invest in the areas of infrastructure and agriculture, among others, but only those who are bold and courageous would reap the returns.