An industrialist, Ide John Udeagbala, has charged fresh graduates and other young Nigerians to bridge the existing digital skills gap, saying that it would strengthen their capacity to become employable.
Udeagbala stated this on Thursday while delivering the 22nd Convocation lecture of Ogbonnaya Onu Polytechnic Aba, formerly known as Abia State Polytechnic.
He identified digital skills gap as a fundamental challenge presently contributing to the high level of unemployment among graduates and other youths.
“There is a fundamental challenge we must address. It is nothing but the digital skills gap. There is a big gap. It is an unlimited market.
“The challenge for the graduates is to scale these innovations into the vast ecosystem of small and medium enterprises that power Aba’s industrial landscape,” Udeagbala said.
The convocation lecturer who said that trade is the lifeblood of industrial sustainability, noted that inefficiencies within the logistics and trade ecosystem must be addressed for Nigerian goods to compete favourably in the international market.
He further called for the use of Artificial Intelligence and digital technology to modernize the supply chain, production processes, and trade mechanisms in Aba and other parts of the country.
In his speech, the Rector, Ogbonnaya Onu Polytechnic, Christopher Okoro, said the convocation lecture topic coincided with the period Governor Alex Otti was intentional about development of trade, through the use of AI and other forms of technology.
The rector, who challenged the graduates to tap from the lecture to become job creators, thanked Governor Otti for saving the polytechnic from problems of dilapidated infrastructure.