Structural unemployment has become a significant challenge in Nigeria, creating a widening gap between available jobs and the local talent pool. The recent social media storm surrounding Moniepoint CEO Tosin Eniolorunda who noted that over 500 vacancies remain unfilled due to a lack of qualified candidates highlights a harsh reality: we have a mismatch of skills, not just a lack of positions.

While many youths argue that local employers demand international standards for meager pay, the frustration voiced by industry leaders like Aliko Dangote when he expressed frustration regarding the difficulty of hiring qualified staff in Nigeria suggests a deeper systemic issue. This mismatch is evident even in our security sectors, where personnel often lack passion or professional alignment with their roles, simply taking the job as a last resort because there was no other option.

Our education system is standing on spaghetti legs, our educational system often allocate another course to applicant once they did not meet the requirement for their desired course, this should be frowned at as students will not be passionate about what they are studying; their aim will be to just get the certificate and go “make I just get the pali” we need a policy shift that moves beyond general degrees toward strategic, demand-driven education. By taking the driver’s seat of the education sector, the government could implement a specialized funding and recruitment model.

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) should be more than a general loan scheme; it can be utilized as a strategic tool to fund students in sectors where Nigeria faces a critical shortage such as Engineering and Medicine to counter the "Japa" syndrome. By sponsoring students in these high-priority fields, the government ensures a steady supply of professionals. In return, these graduates are guaranteed employment because they were trained specifically to meet a national need. To boost morale, students under this initiative could receive stipends and accommodation, while high-performing graduates with first class degree could even be eligible for loan waivers, effectively turning their debt into a reward for national service.

To avoid training people for non-existent roles, the government must consult with private organizations to gather real-time data on labour market demands. By aligning the curriculum with what companies actually need, we can stop the reliance on expatriates and empower our local workforce from the scratch.

While technical education is vital, the country also needs sound professionals across all sectors who truly know what they are doing. Nigerian youth must also recognize that employment is a value exchange; companies hire based on the specific value and expertise an employee brings to the table. By bridging the gap between education and industry requirements, Nigeria can transform its structural unemployment from a crisis into a robust engine for growth.

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Bamidele Atoyebi is the Convener of BAT Ideological Group, National Coordinator of Accountability and Policy Monitoring and a publisher at Unfiltered and Mining Reporting