The Vice-Chancellor, Kwara State University, Malete, Prof.AbdulRasheedNa'Allah, and the Acting Dean, College of Business and Governance, Dr.MuritalaAwodun, have said that a veritable strategy to curbing graduate unemployment is for the government and tertiary institutions to refocus the education curriculum to place emphasis on wealth creation, enterprise development and skill acquisition.

They decried the high unemployment rate in the nation and the churning out of are unskilled and unemployable graduates by institutions of higher learning.

Na'Allah spoke on Tuesday during the inauguration of KWASU School of Business and Governance.

He said it was sad to see many Nigerian graduates roaming the streets because of lack of employment or business engagements, adding that a more worrisome dimension was that Nigerians were now seeing such a situation as normal.

According to him, the government and educational institutions have not adequately prepared Nigerians for self-employment and wealth creation.

He said, "The mentality of our education is for graduates to be dependent, to work for the government and other employers, rather than to create employment and wealth opportunities. One of the strategies of KWASU from the very inception is to change the mentality of young people. So, KWASU as a centre for entrepreneurship has approved courses for wealth creation and management that will equip our students to be creators of wealth even as they are still students of KWASU.

"I want to recommend to universities and the government in Nigeria that the goal must not just be to train people based on acquisition of degrees because degrees that are not relevant to creation of wealth are degrees that are not geared towards the current needs of the society."

Na'Allah said part of the reasons for education was for the students to have critical thinking and ability to become useful and productive members of the society, adding that they should create wealth, empower themselves and other people.

Awodun said enterprise development would make Nigerian graduates to become self-reliant and even become employers of labour.

He urged the youth to change their orientation from searching for paid employment to becoming creators of wealth and even employers of labour, which he noted would advance the economy and the society.