By Moses Nosike

Jobred, an employability skills toolkit and job centre, has partnered the Department of Maritime Transport and Business Management of the Federal College of Fisheries and Marine Technology (FCFMT) to build employability skills for students. For the past eight years, their work has been implemented in universities through bootcamps and training. The partnership aims to bridge the gap in the digital space between educational institutions and the corporate world.

Ajo Balogun, Founder of Jobred, said, “We are passionate about seeing young Nigerians secure jobs or become self-reliant by preparing them for the workplace.”

Project Assistant Jobred, Tomi Eluyode who represented the founder of Jobred, Mrs Ajo Balogun during her presentation as part of the MTBN Town-Gown interaction 3.0, themed “Technology Prospect for Nigerian Youth,” emphasized the importance of personal branding, highlighting key areas such as crafting a strong personal brand, writing a great CV and LinkedIn optimization.

In addition, the Registrar, FCFMT, Mrs. Petgrace F.F, explained the importance of preparing youths for the future, leveraging technology to impact their lives and commended the project.

Jobred also made available its software development scholarship program, provided by its tech partner Power Learn Project Africa. This programme aims to train 1 million software developers across Africa, with the skills needed to succeed in the digital age. Through this partnership, Jobred and FCFMT aim to empower young Nigerians with the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in the digital age.

Also HOD, Maritime, Transport and Business Management, Mr John Okeleke, said, “The programme started 3 years ago, and the essence of this programme is to intimate the students, bring them to have a link with the ‘town and gown’. The gown is the students, while the town is the industry. So we are bridging between the industry and the student, so that after studies we will not have problems fitting into the labour market. Today, if you look at our caption, it talks about the prospect of technology to Nigerian youths. Of course, you know what technology is all about today. All over the world, technology is opening doors, impacting lives, new doors for the youths. I believe that at the end of this programme, the youths or students, will know and appreciate the impact of technology”.

In the same vein, a lecturer and organiser of the programme, Buhari Sodiq said, “this is the third edition, and it is all about advancing the impact of technology in today’s evolving world. The world is evolving, if you don’t catch up with the world, it will catch up with you, and that is why we are preparing our students for life after school. The aim is to bridge the gap between the industry and the ‘gown’. We don’t want a situation where the students get to the industry and are blank. So, we want to bring the industry to the gown and incorporate the gown into the industry while they are still in school”.

Also, Senior Marketing Manager, MultiChoice, Lagos Region, Jibola Idowu, said that MultiChoice is interested in anything that has to do with youth development and technology, and we get involved. “It’s also a part of our business, and you know that the youths are the future of our country, and they are the major consumer of our products. Today, in our country, some of the things that bring honour to the country, good image is our youths. They are involved in music, entertainment, sports, and most of them are doing fantastically well with technology. If you check on social media, AI, they are doing well in that space. It could be better but they are good so far. This is the reason we have so many channels on our programme that are youth-driven such as The Big Brother that is currently going on, and many others.