Beyond Certificates: RYNI and SUG-PTI Rally Youths at National Summit to Navigate Nigeria’s Job Crisis

RYNI News | Omotayo Stephen . O
24 August 2025

The battle against youth unemployment leapt from statistics to action on Friday, August 22, 2025, as the Resourceful Youth Network Initiative (RYNI) collaborated with the Students’ Union Government of the Petroleum Training Institute (SUG-PTI) to host the August edition of National Youth Empowerment Summit.

Held virtually under the theme “The Unemployment Dilemma: Government or Citizens to Blame? Navigating the Job Crisis and the Future of Nigerian Youths”, the summit brought together distinguished speakers from Nigeria, the UK, the USA, and Canada, along side students , graduates and young professionals across the nation, all committed to confronting the roots of Nigeria’s job crisis and charting pathways forward to secure a future where skills—not certificates alone—drive opportunity.

A Rallying Call at the Opening

Opening the session, Comr. Stephen Omotayo introduced the panel and acknowledged both the Chief Host and moderator, Dr. Lawson Obazenu, CEO of RYNI (UK) and Co-host , Comr. Temisa Collins Oghenevwede , president, SUG- PTI.

In his opening remarks, Dr. Obazenu cut straight to the heart of the matter. “This is not about politics or statistics,” he said. “It is about finding real solutions. Nigeria’s greatest resource is its youth—not as job seekers, but as job creators. Innovation and creativity are the lifelines we must seize.”

Echoing this sentiment, Comr. Godgift Oghenegavwraye, Chairman of the Local Organizing Committee and SUG-PTI representative, declared that the program belonged to the Nigerian youth. “This is our fight, our future. Today’s conversation is for every student and every graduate caught in the web of joblessness,” he affirmed.

Debating the Causes—and the Way Forward

The panel tackled questions that peeled back the layers of Nigeria’s unemployment dilemma, revealing a mix of governance failures, systemic neglect, and personal responsibility.

• Engr. Gloria Evbaru-Okhuaihesuyi, lecturer at the University of Benin and founder of a thriving agro-processing enterprise, described unemployment as a dual crisis. “Corruption chokes economic growth. Our graduates leave with certificates but not with skills. Government must finance small businesses and reform education, while youths must pursue skill acquisition with urgency.”
• Engr. Donald Umunna, UK-based energy transition consultant with a portfolio spanning green technology and oil sector reforms, argued that Nigeria’s problem is not policy absence but execution paralysis. “Policies exist, but execution fails. Nigeria thrives informally because formal systems break down. Collaboration is the secret—no tree makes a forest.”
• Dr. Ndudi Francis Ejimofor, Director at SERVICOM and entrepreneurship development expert, lamented the gulf between academia and industry. “Our universities manufacture certified graduates, not skilled ones. We need economic policies that engineer jobs, not just paper qualifications.”
• Mr. John Amagbor, entrepreneur and CEO of Oshionela Global Ltd, challenged the narrative of entrepreneurship as a triumph. “Youth entrepreneurship in Nigeria is not a win-win, but survival. Without capital, policies, and infrastructure, businesses struggle to live beyond start-up dreams.”
• Engr. Ochuko Adogbeji, Canada-based cybersecurity expert and youth mentor, compared Nigeria’s neglect with global models. “Nigerians excel abroad because systems abroad support them. A Canadian student gets grants worth tens of thousands of dollars. At home, our youths wrestle with policies that ignore them.”
• Osi Avwunudiogba Diji, US-based IT consultant with decades of corporate experience, spotlighted the digital economy. “Exchange programs, virtual jobs, and coding from childhood are game changers. In Nigeria, we must learn to PUSH—Persist Until Something Happens.”

Audience Engagement

Participants fired off pressing questions: how to identify legitimate remote job platforms, where to access funding for startups, and how universities could bridge the gap between learning and labour. The speakers underscored skill acquisition, digital leverage, and systemic reform as urgent priorities.The panelists agreed on one point: skills are the new currency. Degrees may open doors, but skills keep them open.

Dr. Uyilawal Okhuaihesuyi, a physician and youth advocate based in USA, stressed the need to cut bureaucratic red tape that blocks employment pathways. “Youth potential is not lacking; it is policy that strangles opportunity,” he remarked.

Mr. Emmanuel Onwuka , a UK- based IT systems specialist, added a pragmatic note, urging Nigeria to build a national database. “We cannot solve what we do not measure. Data must guide policies if we are serious about jobs,” he insisted.

A Call to Action

In their closing remarks, Dr. Obazenu challenged participants: “The future is not given—it is taken. We must stop waiting. We must start building.”

Comr. Oghenegavwraye ended with a rallying cry: We have lit a torch today. PTI students and Nigerian youths must carry it into every home, every street, every boardroom.

Beyond the Summit

What began as a virtual dialogue has become a movement. Nigeria’s unemployment crisis is far from over, but the summit left participants with a powerful realization: they hold the hammer to reshape their own destinies.

With RYNI and SUG-PTI leading the charge, Nigerian youths are no longer waiting for opportunities. They are creating them—transforming despair into innovation, defiance into leadership, and unemployment into opportunity.

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