60% of Employers: Nigerian Graduates Unfit for Jobs
Nearly 60 per cent of employers in Nigeria consider fresh graduates inadequately prepared for the workplace, a new report by human capital firm Proten International has found, pointing to a deepening disconnect between what universities teach and what industries require.
The findings were presented on Thursday in Ikeja, Lagos, at an industry roundtable themed “Bridging the Skill Gap Between Education and Industry Needs in Nigeria,” which drew representatives from government, the private sector, and academia.
The report also found that more than 55 per cent of Nigerian graduates are working in roles entirely unrelated to their fields of study. It identified critical deficiencies in teamwork, communication, technical proficiency, and digital literacy as the core competency gaps driving the mismatch.
“Findings reveal significant misalignment between academic training and the competencies demanded by modern workplaces, with 55 per cent of respondents working in fields unrelated to their academic background and nearly 60 per cent of employers reporting that graduates are inadequately prepared for their roles,” the report stated.
Proten International Managing Director Deborah Yemi-Oladayo, who spoke at the roundtable, described the problem as multidimensional, warning that curriculum reform alone cannot close the gap without corresponding investment in educators.
“It’s not one way. If you redesign the curriculum, it means you are improving it. Then you need to retrain the people who are going to train the students,” she said, adding, “How many of our lecturers get enough training? If we’re expecting our lecturers to do much more for our students, we need to give them that level of training so that they will be able to transfer in the classroom.”
She was direct in her assessment. “It’s not enough to expect lecturers to do magic. They can only give what they have,” she said.
Yemi-Oladayo also charged students to take personal responsibility for their development rather than waiting for systemic change. “I advise undergraduates to harness opportunities that are around the world. We have online platforms that deliver training for free,” she said, urging young Nigerians to redirect their attention from social media toward deliberate self-development. “They have a part to play. Nobody will do it for them,” she added.
Harry Enabolo, founder of Treford Africa, a non-engineering skill partner for professionals and businesses, reinforced that message by emphasising the irreplaceable value of hands-on experience. “Experience prepares you for a job faster than almost anything you learn. The best learning still happens on the job,” he said.
Enabolo urged students to seek internships and engage with startups, arguing that applying knowledge in real settings accelerates professional growth far more than classroom instruction alone. He also called for a more flexible education system that allows students to combine academic work with practical experience without academic penalty.
Nigeria’s graduate unemployment crisis has remained a persistent concern, with the National Bureau of Statistics previously reporting youth unemployment figures consistently above 30 per cent in recent years.