The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige has called on unemployed graduates in Nigeria to embrace Blue/Green Collar Jobs as sustainable alternatives to White Collar Jobs.
He made this call during a Town Hall Meeting held at Benin, Edo State on ‘Popularization of Blue/Green Collar Jobs among Graduates of Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria.’
The Minister who was represented by the Director, Special Duties and Projects Department in the Ministry, Dr Martina Nwordu, urged Nigerian Youths to invest their talents in the Blue/Green Collar Job Sector and become smart entrepreneurs who would distinguish themselves in creative skills in various areas.
He also disclosed that the purpose of the meeting which held concurrently in four other geopolitical zones of the federation, was to sensitize representatives of key stakeholders in graduate employment on the benefits of Blue/Green Collar Jobs as an alternative response to the challenges of graduate unemployment.
He informed that the Town Hall Meeting is part of the activities in the Graduate Employability Enhancement Scheme (GEES), an initiation of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment on how to break the resilience of high unemployment rate in the country.
He therefore urged stakeholders – unemployed graduates, parents, career counsellors, students of tertiary institutions, among others to key into the profitable opportunities offered by Blue/Green Collar Jobs which include income satisfaction, self-dignity and esteemed self-worth.
Ngige also urged stakeholders to cooperate with Government on the programme, as it would also contribute to achieving the President’s promise to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in ten years.
Resource persons at the Townhall meeting were drawn from the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment and National Directorate of Employment.
Charles Akpan
Deputy Director/Head of Press
