The Plateau State Polytechnic, Barkin-Ladi has held its inaugural lecture, 35 years after it was established. The Inaugural lecture, held at the institution’s campus, Jos on Friday, had its main theme as “Entrepreneurship and the challenges of unemployment in Nigeria”. Chairman of the occasion, Prof. Krisim Fwa,Vice Chancellor, Bingham University, Karu in Nasarawa State, while declaring the programme open, described the lecture series organised by the polytechnic as “very apt”.

The Plateau State Polytechnic, Barkin-Ladi has held its inaugural lecture, 35 years after it was established. The Inaugural lecture, held at the institution’s campus, Jos on Friday, had its main theme as “Entrepreneurship and the challenges of unemployment in Nigeria”. Chairman of the occasion, Prof. Krisim Fwa,Vice Chancellor, Bingham University, Karu in Nasarawa State, while declaring the programme open, described the lecture series organised by the polytechnic as “very apt”.

Fwa said that the school had becme one of the academic institutions in the world that has adopted the culture of inaugural lecture delivery for the promotion of research and findings. According to him, “This lecture series will avail this institution the opportunity to enhance and promote better options and views for the growth and development of the nation. Adding that, “We are in a society where recession is massive, while business strategies are strategic, so I believe that diagnosing and digesting this topic will provoke us to seek solutions.

Fwa noted that government had a role to play in curbing unemployment, but with correct knowledge of entrepreneurship, much could be done to redress the situation. However, Mr. James Kamsit, who delivered the lecture, identified unemployment as a major problem in the country, and particularly noted that the problem was getting worse by the day.

He added that, unemployment was currently at 23.9 percent, and blamed the scourge for most of the vices in Nigeria. Kamsit defined unemployment as a situation, where a willing individual is unable to find a job that would suit his level of competence, skills and abilities, and also referred to entrepreneurship as creating something new that would add value to the society. “The cankerworm of unemployment will only be ameliorated when Nigerians, both old and young redirect their attention towards proper entrepreneurship,” he said.

He maintained that, tackling unemployment should not be left solely in the hands of the government, saying that there is the need for all to strive towards becoming employers of labour. He tasked government to create the right environment that would stimulate both foreign and local investments, and challenged leaders to emulate India, South Korea, Indonesia, China, among others, whose economies are steadily on the rise. The Rector of the Polytechnic, Mr. Dauda Gyemang, earlier in his welcome address, said the inaugural lecture would not only provoke thoughts, but create an enabling environment for ideas to be cross-fertilized. He suggested that inaugural lectures in an academic community should not be optional, but mandatory to encourage more researches toward tackling national concerns.

Gyemang promised that the lecture series would become more regular in the polytechnic.

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Plateau state polytechnic holds its inaugural lecture 35 years after its creation