President Muhammadu Buhari said Nigeria has been reluctant to sign the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) among ECOWAS countries to protect her economy, especially the industries and small businesses currently providing jobs for majority Nigerians.

He said signing the agreement would expose industries and small businesses to external pressures and competitions, which could lead to closures and job losses

The president said this at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa yesterday, while receiving a letter of credence from the head of delegation of the European Union to Nigeria, Ketil Iversen Karlsen.

He said, “We are not enthusiastic about signing the EPA because of our largely youthful population. We are still struggling to provide jobs for them, and we want our youths to be kept busy.

“Presently, our industries cannot compete with the more efficient and highly technologically driven industries in Europe. We have to protect our industries and our youths.”

Commending the EU for its support for the rehabilitation of the northeast, Buhari said Nigerian economy was being repositioned to attract more investments that would create jobs.

Karlsen said the EU would continue to support Buhari’s administration in the key priorities it listed; security, economy and the fight against corruption.

He said the EPA was designed to accommodate and protect some economies that would find it difficult to compete.

“We are hopeful that there will be a signature on the agreement,’’ he stated.

Buhari also received letters of credence from the Ambassador of Italy, Dr. Stefano Pontesilli and the Ambassador of Spain, Mr Marcelino Cabanas Ansorena.

FG uncovers 925 hard-to-fill vacancies in labour market

Despite high unemployment in Nigeria, the Federal Government has uncovered 925 “difficult and very difficult-to-fill vacancies in the country’s labour market.

Skills Gap Assessment report released yesterday by the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) in collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) revealed that the vacancies that employers find difficult to fill can be attributed to lack of skills, qualifications or experience among applicants.

The report seen by Daily Trust, which relied on responses from industries polled, disclosed that 19.7 vacancies in housing are difficult to fill just as 13.9 per cent in petrochemicals, 14.7 in other goods, 11.4 in auto industry, 10.3 in textiles, 10.1 per cent in steel, 8.9 in services and 3.3 per cent in leather.

The report found that 15.7 per cent of all hard-to-fill vacancies were due to lack of technical skills, 11.8 per cent due to lack of basic IT skills and 9.2 per cent due to lack of advanced IT skills.

Soft skills such as planning and organising skills, customer handling skills or team working skills were mentioned with regards to between 9.7 per cent and 7.5 per cent of hard-to-fill vacancies.

To remedy the shortage in manpower skills, the report stated that employers take remedial actions such as increasing salaries, increasing trainings to existing staff, redefining jobs, offer training to less qualified recruits, and increasing and expanding trainee programmes.

The Director General of the ITF, Sir Joseph Ari, told guests at the public presentation of the report, that the skills gap report would serve as a reference document for human capital development in the country.