Yilwatda To Nigerian Youths: Look Beyond Local Job Markets, Embrace Global Opportunities

Yilwatda

By KEMI KAYODE

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Professor Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda, has challenged Nigerian youths graduating from the nation’s universities to reposition themselves for the global job market, stressing that opportunities beyond Nigeria’s borders are more abundant and increasingly accessible than limited local employment options.

Professor Yilwatda made this call while delivering the Convocation Lecture at the Combined 6th, 7th and 8th Convocation Ceremony of Akwa Ibom State University, with the theme “Leveraging Emerging Technology to Enhance University Education and National Development.”

According to him, Nigerian universities, by long-standing design and structure, have largely operated within local frameworks, producing graduates who often compete only within domestic job markets.

He noted that in a rapidly globalising and digital world, this approach must change.

“The world has become a single, borderless labour market. Global jobs are today more available than local jobs, especially for young people equipped with the right digital skills. Nigerian youths must therefore think globally, compete globally, and work globally,” he said.

The APC National Chairman explained that the Fourth Industrial Revolution, driven by artificial intelligence, data analytics, robotics, biotechnology and digital platforms, has fundamentally altered how work is defined and where work is done. In this new era, physical location matters far less than competence, creativity and digital literacy.

He urged graduating students to see themselves not as job seekers confined by geography, but as global talents capable of solving problems for organisations and communities anywhere in the world.