Disturbed by the alarming crime rate propelled by youth unemployment in Nigeria, the Association of Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in the United Kingdom said it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with private organisations in the United States of America in partnership with Google to provide job opportunities.
OSHA is a multi national association that ensures safe and healthy working conditions by enforcing standards and providing workplace safety training.
The president of OSHA in Nigeria, His Royal Highness, Ambassador Olusegun Aderemi MCArb, made this known in a press release in Lagos.
The President, who is also the Atayero of Aramoko Ekiti, explained that the motive behind the decision is to lift the unemployed graduates out of poverty and ensure they lay hands on positive venture to be self reliant.
Aderemi added that the initiative would also enable those who are employed step up and spread their tentacles for better opportunities.
“The new creation of OSHA is to just take most of our graduate away from unemployment. We are battling the problem of unemployment for graduates, graduate professionals as well as those that are engaged but looking for other means of advancement and other commiseration to their certificates and professionalism.
“We want to create an enablement and a channel through which we would help this people in partnership with credible organisation in the united states .
“It is not a way of doing what is called brain drain but a way of providing means of employment to our people and to also help the government of the day reduce unemployment.
“The rate of unemployment in our society is very high. We are trying to mitigate that and reduce it in a way that will create a meaningful impact to the society and also help humanity.
“We are going to be recruiting from first to highest degree holders, both professional and non-professional, and those who are already working but still looking for better opportunities.
” I have met with the NYSC boss at the headquarter and we discussed at length on this. We need to do this to help this present administration.
“I have also gone to Lagos business school to get most of our professional that have graduated,” he stated.
Lamenting effects of unemployment on national development, OSHA Executive Director, International Consultant, Ambassador Amina Temitope Ajayi, said “When a nation has a brigade of unemployed graduates, it is a suicide sitting on a time bomb.”
Engineer Emmanuel Uwalaka, the regional administrator, advocated establishment of a professional body for youth empowerment to help with employability skills, adding that the decision would provide job opportunities and boost international labour market exposure.
According to a member of OSHA, UK region, Mahhud Sanusi Mohammed, the development would checkmate unemployment in the country.