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As part of its effort to extend their services and support to over 20 Nigerian employers seeking to meet with and employ recent graduates, 12 leading UK universities organised a maiden alumni careers event targeted at Nigerians that graduated from participating universities.
The event held at Eko Hotel and Suites Victoria Island Lagos provided a great opportunity to showcase the talent and skills of the Nigerian students trained in the UK.
Laure Beaufils, UK Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria, while speaking at the event said the UK was rightly proud of its education excellence and the universities represented today “feature among the very best that we have”.
Beaufils said there was no doubt that the event would be a great opportunity for employers as they actively seek to identify talents to deliver on their business priorities, adding that this would also be an opportunity to encourage yet more Nigerian students to choose UK universities.
Emma Tayou, regional manager for West Africa at the University of Nottingham and the lead organiser of the event, said students wanted to return to Nigeria to work and employ the skills and knowledge they have acquired.
“There is more that UK universities can do to facilitate access to employers and to provide career support within the Nigerian job market. I’m thrilled to be organising the first ever event in Nigeria exclusively for leading employers to meet UK educated Nigerian talent,” Tayou said.
The institutions involved in the organisation of the event are the University of Birmingham, Cardiff University, University of Edinburgh, University of Essex, University of Glasgow, University of Leeds, Loughborough University, Newcastle University, University of Nottingham, Robert Gordon University, University of Salford, and University of Southampton. Popular with Nigerian students, these institutions have seen more than 10,000 Nigerians study with them over the last ten years alone at various study levels from bachelors through to PhD.
Universities have reached out to leading employers in Nigeria and to successful alumni to secure the participation of major employers as well as smaller start ups at the event. Employers who have confirmed their presence include Andela, Dangote Group, GE, KPMG, Huawei, Stanbic, Siemens, and the World Bank.
KELECHI EWUZIE
