Workers' Day: PENGASSAN urges workers to acquire relevant digital skills

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has said there is an urgent need for managers of the nation’s economy to make a conscious and deliberate effort in creating a robust economy that will enhance the effective participation of all and improve the per capita income of our current population in the shortest time possible.

In a statement signed by the National President of the association, Comrade Ndukaku Ohaeri said, there is no gainsaying the fact that a nation cannot develop above the capacity of its human capital.

“The prospects of a great Nigeria lie squarely in the kind of education we give our citizens. Time has come for Government at all levels to pay close attention to the human capital development of the citizenry without which sustainable development will remain a mirage. It has become crystal clear that quality education is essential for rethinking the future of work in the 21st century.”

“Lack of digital skills continues to amplify the digital divides as more and more jobs are increasingly requiring some level of digital skills. In this context, equipping children and our young population with the skills required to enter the job market has become more necessary than ever. Governments, institutions, and industry must prioritize skills development and training around this area to empower youths for the digital economy”

He further explains, “Preparing youngsters for lifetime opportunities will involve helping them to understand the rapid evolution of technology better and how to adapt their skills to the different scenarios. Skills for life need to be better incorporated into the curricula not only to make for the understanding of technology but also to help them on all spheres of life. Some of these skills include assertive communication, perspective-taking, emotional intelligence, and critical thinking.”

“The importance of critical thinking as a tool that will help youth to better prepare for the future, cannot be over-emphasized as it remains a key tool that will enable them to better understand emergent technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and machine learning. This will create opportunities for them to fit into the emerging world of work that will shape the future economies of the world.

“The future of work in Nigeria can only be truly assured when our young population today and indeed the citizenry are deliberately empowered with requisite skills that will make them more of job creators than job seekers, even in the process of their education. Elements of this should be abundantly incorporated into the school curriculum from primary to university education levels. Our education system must be such that help to create new businesses and business leaders with new ideas to solve human problems thereby creating work for our ever-growing population.”

According to him, the theme of this year’s May Day Celebration is “60 Years of Nationhood; Insecurity, Wage, Poverty and the Future of Work in Nigeria”. “This theme is significant in many respects, especially now that the Nations will be faced with the harsh effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

He urged the federal government, the employers to come together and look at the best possible ways to deal with the issues that we have now. “We must all do our best at this time for there is no better time to collaborate than now.”