The Director-General, National Directorate of Employment, Mallam Abubakar Muhammed, has said that there is the need for a collaborative synergy between the federal, state and local governments and other stakeholders in the nation's efforts to tackle the problem of high unemployment rate in the country.

Muhammed spoke in Ilorin during a solar energy training workshop for 50 unemployed graduates on Tuesday.

He was represented by Chief Public Works Officer, NDE, Mr. Augustine Akhali. The beneficiaries are to undergo training on the harvesting, design, installation and maintenance of photophotaic system or solar powered energy system.

He stated that unemployment had become a cankerworm that required the efforts of all stakeholders to address.

He said NDE had been in the forefront in the mobilisation efforts along with some relevant stakeholders, on the need to diversify Nigeria's sources of power generation.

He added that this is necessary to assist the country create more employment opportunities, as well as meet its development goals, especially the nation's target to become one of the leading industrialised nations of the world in the next decade.

Muhammed hoped that the training would contribute to relevant skilled manpower development and improvement of the nation's ailing energy sector.

Kwara State Coordinator, Alhaji Safiliyu Awosanya said that within the last five months the state NDE had disbursed resettlement tools to 58 unemployed persons upon their graduation from NDE National Open Apprenticeship training.

He stated that 40 graduates were attached to various organisations under Special Public Works Scheme. He added that 25 advanced NOA trainees were undergoing intensive training in five different vocational trades, such as Information and Communication Technology, fashion designing, industrial welding, auto-tronics and furniture making.

Awosanya said, "This is a pointer to the fact that the Federal Government of Nigeria is not resting on its oars in the fight against the menace of unemployment. Our tertiary institutions keep on producing graduates in thousands, school drop outs keep on increasing, secondary school leavers, who are unable to secure admission into universities keep on trooping our state offices; hence, the rate of unemployment in Nigeria is alarming.

"The war against unemployment is indeed a joint responsibility of all. NDE or FGN cannot single- handedly combat unemployment."

Senior Special Assistant to the Kwara State Governor on Youth Empowerment, Alhaji Babatunde Saka said there were 44,000 unemployed youths that were captured in the state's data base.

He identified inadequate training, paucity of government funds and improper orientation as some of the factors contributing to the high unemployment rate in the country. He said there was the need to identify needs and target trainings to those identified societal needs.

He warned youths not to be involved in unwholesome conducts and crime, adding that unemployment is no longer an excuse for armed robbery, prostitution, begging or other untoward indulgences.

He stated that the Federal Government and the state governments through NDE had designed various programmes to engage the serious minded unemployed youths.

He appealed to all unemployed persons, especially youths, to avail themselves of empowerment programmes offered by the federal, state and local governments.