University- Industry Collaboration: a Panacea to G Raduate Unemployment in Nigeria

One of the major problems f acing Nigeria is graduate unemployment. Nigeria parades well over hundred uni1·ersities owned by the Federal, Stale and private individuals, which have been churning out graduates e l'el:\' year wit how prospect.for employment. One oft he maj or factors contributing to this scenario is the mismatched betll'een the school curricula and the needs of the industrial sector of the economy. With heavy reliance 011 e111pirical and second my data, the study advocates fo r university-industry collaboration as one of the 111easures lO 111it igate graduate unemployment in Nigeria. The study finds that mismatched between university curricular aJI(I i11dustrial needs renders most Nigerian graduates unemployable. The study therefore, suggests among others the need to briog in seasoned industrialists to participate in drawing curricula and also teach some pmct ical courses 011 part time basis in Nigerian Universities. Efforts in this direction will equip Nigerian graduates with skills needed in the industrial sector of the economy with implicationsfortheir employability s f ell us.