Ogunrinde: Tackling Unemployment Through Skills Acquisition

KPMG has stated that the Nigerian unemployment rate had increased to 37.7per cent in 2022 and will further rise to 40.6per cent, due to the continuous inflow of job seekers into the job market.

The multinational consulting firm, in a newly released report tagged ‘KPMG Global Economy Outlook report, H1 2023’ revealed that, “unemployment is expected to continue to be a major challenge in 2023 due to the limited investment by the private sector, low industrialisation and slower than required economic growth and consequently the inability of the economy to absorb 4-5 million new entrants into the Nigerian job market every year.”

But an international visitor leadership programme Alumna and the founder of Field of Skills and Dreams (FSD), a vocational, technical and entrepreneurship training academy, Mrs Omowale Ogunrinde is optimistic that this trend can be reversed, if Nigerians, especially, the youths equip themselves with vocational, technical and entrepreneurial skills.

To her, unemployment is a very serious issue all over the world and the best way to tackle it is through skills development. All sectors of the economy need skilled people, so therefore, FSD is bridging the skill gap in Nigeria, she said.

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Ogunrinde has a passion for helping young Nigerians develop the vocational, technical and entrepreneurial skills to enable them set up small sustainable businesses and reduce unemployment among the nation’s youth. FSD’s graduates have created over 10,000 jobs as a result of training programmes in Lagos, port Harcourt, Enugu, Calabar, Kuje, Ibadan, Iejbu Ode, Kaduna, Mokwa and Uyo.

Ogunrinde formally founded the Foundation for Skills Development in 2003 and the value of her work with women in Micro and Small Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) has earned her several local and international awards.

The training facility is now registered as Field of Skills and Dreams VTE Academy and now occupies its permanent location with training in eleven skill areas which include; Electrical Installations, Fashion Designing, Carpentry, Catering, amongst others.

Her work has effectively trained over 10,000 women and youths with verifiable records, measurable successes and majority have set up businesses in different parts of Nigeria.

Her work has been effective in the transformation of lives and helping the unemployed to discover their strengths and skills. With annexes in Enugu, Abuja, Calabar, Ibadan and a purpose built headquarters in Lagos, FSD has received many local and international accolades for its efficacy in transforming lives through its economic empowerment training programmes.

She is a mentor and trainer at many training and development programmes during which she uses the success stories of FSD alumni to encourage other women.

She told LEADERSHIP that, “I have been running FSD since 2003 and we have worked in 14 states in Nigeria. We run various courses across different sectors like fashion, catering, electrical installation, solar installation, hair dressing to make-up, among others.”

She averred that young people are unemployed because they dont have skills, adding that, “No student that leaves here is unemployed. Companies are competing to have the people that we have not trained. That tells you that there are jobs, but there are no skilled people. So, the educational system needs to be regit to ensure that we are teaching undergraduates the skills that industries need, so that they can have jobs.”

Presently, Ogunrinde said, FSD don’t just train them, but ensured that they get employed. “In fact, there are many employers, we are waiting for those we are planning to train. So there are jobs. All that youths need is to get the skills. That is what we have been doing for the past 20 years,” she revealed.

Career and education

Mrs Ogunrinde founded Field of Skills and Dreams (FSD), a vocational, technical and entrepreneurship training academy in May 2003.

She attended Queens School, Ibadan from 1974 to 1979. She obtained her Bachelor of Science-Demorgraphy and Social Statistics, from the University of Ife (1980 to 1984) and later obtained her post graduate diploma in Education, Education Administration and Master of Business Administration at the University of Lagos.