UNN to reduce unemployment among Nigerian graduates through mentoring

The university identified increasing number of unemployable graduates due to their ill-equipped and ill-prepared for life and work.

The University of Nigeria (UNN) Technology Advancement Programme (UNTAP), on Thursday, began an innovative forum to address the increasing number of unemployable graduates in the country.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the forum tagged “UNTAP Innovative Forum” is aimed at encouraging students to present their innovative skills before some captains of industry for sponsorship.

The event held at the University of Nigeria Enugu Campus (UNEC), has the theme “Presentation of Innovative Idea from Creative Forum”. NAN reports that eight students were selected to present their innovative works before the captains of industries and prospective sponsors.

Speaking at the event, the Director of UNTAP, Prof. Geraldine Ugwuonah, said the forum was aimed at harvesting talent from the young people and lecturers from the university.

She said the university had identified an increasing number of unemployable graduates due to their ill-equipped and ill-prepared for life and work and decided to change the narrative.

Ugwuonah, a Professor of Marketing at the University, said the event was its maiden outing to create awareness for a wider community. According to Ugwuonah, a lot of students have ideas lying idle inside them but lack mentoring and sponsorship.

“I work with my team members to identify and work towards realising these innovative ideas in them.

“We have listened to them before as we started since February and we try to fine-tune some of the ideas they had by putting them into perspective.

“Those that participated in the presentation will be our ambassadors. We brought people who are from industries to hear them out and support them,” she said.

She added that through UNTAP they had linked so many others to sponsors, adding that the university was planning a bigger event to gather the students to listen and learn how to develop their ideas.

Also speaking, the Manager of UNTAP, Dr Chinedum Aranotu, said the centre started in 2015 to help student inventors initiate ideas and take them up to the next level. He said that they took the students through different processes that included coaching, mentoring and sponsoring.

“Aaron Esumeh, the Chief Executive Officer of Greenage Technologies was my first product and today, they are building the biggest inverter battery in Nigeria through funded agencies in USA and Europe.

“The investors are here to support them and after prototype, we start taking them round. We will keep encouraging them, taking their products to different levels until they see people that buy into the ideas,” he stated.

An investor and owner of Bon Sunshine Hotel in Enugu, Emeka Nwandu, expressed satisfaction with the presentations by the participants and pledged to assist those who focused on renewable energy. He commended UNTAP for the initiative which he said would go a long way in reducing unemployment in the country.

Sharing his experience, Esumeh, who manufactures solar equivalent inverters and charge controllers in Enugu, said they started from a programme like UNTAP until help came their way. While encouraging them never to give up, he pledged to support the winner of the presentation, Victory Wellington with ₦1.5 million to develop his project.

Responding, Wellington, a 100-level student of Civil Engineering, at UNN, presenting his innovation on Renewal Energy, said the constant epileptic power supply in Nigeria pushed him and his team into it. He said that with support from sponsors, the team would produce consistent and cheapest alternating power supply for firms and households in the country.

The highlight of the event was the award of ₦100,000 cash prize to Wellington who emerged first and ₦50,000 to Samuel Ojile who came second with a presentation on Revamping Education. The other six participants received ₦20,000 each as consolation prizes.