The Kwara State Governor, Alhaji AbdulFatah Ahmed; the Chairman, Lubcon Group, Mr. Jani Ibrahim; and an international consultant, Mr. Layi Gobir, on Tuesday identified the development of skills and enterpreneurship as strategies to address the nation's high unemployment rate.

They canvassed greater investment in human capital development as well as small and medium enterprises growth. Ahmed, who was represented by the state's Commissioner for Education, Alhaji Musa Yeketi.

Ibrahim, who was represented by the acting Group Managing Director, Lubcon Group, Mr. Kalu Onwunta, spoke during Lubcon's public presentation of a book, 'Entrepreneurship for Senior Secondary Schools,'written by a former Dean of School of Business and Governance, Kwara State University, Dr. Muritala Awodun. Gobir, who is the Chief Executive Officer, SmartMark Limited, spoke during a human resources development summit in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.

Ahmed said the state government would continue to support human capital development and capacity building as well as the development of SMEs. Ibrahim stated that skill acquisition and enterprise development were veritable strategies to address the nation's high unemployment rate.

He stated that it was imperative to expose pupils to entrepreneurship subjects early enough to equip them with skills and business acumen so that they would become self-reliant and even job creators rather than hoping for the elusive paid employment. Ibrahim stated that the company sponsored the book and distributed 8,000 copies to 556 public senior secondary schools in the 16 local government councils of Kwara and other states in the country to encourage the teaching and learning of entrepreneurship.

He added that the company had also presented copies of the book to local government chairmen, some federal government institutions and private secondary schools in the state. He said, "We are convinced that supporting education through the provision of this entrepreneurship education material will go a long way in introducing the children early to the concept of entrepreneurship.

"This being our own way of ensuring that the spirit of enterprise and industry would be inculcated in our youth and their ability to create wealth through enterprise creation would be enhanced." Gobir stated that there were many human resources, infrastructure gaps as well as opportunities, that if well harnessed and addressed, could substantially reduce the high unemployment rate in the country.

According to him, the renewed focus of the federal, state and local governments on small and medium enterprises development is a good strategy to address the country's rising unemployment rate. He said that with the renewed attention on SMEs' growth, government had realised that SMEs were catalysts of industrial and economic growth.

Gobir also stated that human capital and skills development were essential to career development and unemployment reduction. He urged the Federal Government to upgrade infrastructure and boost power supply, adding that such measures would fast-track job creation and business growth.

According to him, the agriculture sector has great opportunities to provide numerous jobs for unemployed people.

He canvassed the upgrading and more training of artisans in the country.

The human resources professional also called for the creation of a vocational centre in Ilorin.

Gobir said, "There is a renewed focus on small and medium enterprises. I think the government realises that is really where growth in the economy can come from quickly. The industries are affected by the collapse of infrastructure."