VOCATIONAL AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION IN NIGERIA: AN ANTIDOTE TO UNEMPLOYMENT

The issue of unemployment in Nigeria is one of the most critical problems the country is facing today. This has been a major problem to researchers, analysts and economists as the figure increasingly suggests dwindling potentials. Official figure of unemployment in Nigeria from the Bureau of Statistics puts this at about 20 percent (about 30 million), but this figure still did not include about 40 million other Nigerian youths captured in the World Bank statistics in 2009 (BusinessDay, 2009). It is therefore not out of place to consider massive employment generation as an issue of major focus on national development and economic growth plan of the Nigerian government. Under and lack of effective utilisation of both human and material resources has led to unemployment and poverty in Nigeria. In curbing unemployment in Nigeria, efforts should therefore be geared towards improving the economy by way of providing the right skills to the people, albeit, through technical and vocational education to generate employment opportunities. This will assist in no small measure to tackle economic problems and lead to a more prosperous life.