AI May Shut Out Graduates Without Digital Skills, Expert Warns

The rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) is already reshaping Nigeria’s job market, with thousands of graduates and job seekers at risk of being shut out of emerging opportunities unless they acquire relevant digital skills, technology expert Adekunle Durosinmi has warned.

Durosinmi, President of Ogun Tech Community, gave the warning on Royal FM 90.7, Abeokuta, when he spoke on the theme “Emerging Skills Required in the Global Labour Market in the Age of AI Focus Audience: Undergraduates, Corps Members (NYSC), and Job Seekers”

The IT Director and Tech Executive stressed that AI was no longer a technology reserved for the future but a force already replacing routine tasks while creating new employment opportunities for workers with specialised skills.

He said the development was particularly significant for Nigerian undergraduates, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members and unemployed graduates, who must bridge the widening gap between academic qualifications and the practical skills demanded by employers.

According to the Cybersecurity Analyst,  the World Economic Forum has projected significant job creation and displacement globally by 2030, but he cautioned that Nigerians should not wait until then before preparing for the changes. He pointed to the digitisation of legal services, photography, journalism and other sectors as evidence that traditional jobs were already being transformed.

He recalled that skills such as desktop publishing, basic computer maintenance and the use of older software were once highly sought after but had declined as technology evolved. He said similar changes were now affecting virtually every profession, making continuous skills development essential for anyone seeking to remain employable.

Durosinmi asserted that AI literacy was not limited to computer science students, urging undergraduates in accounting, business administration, mass communication, medicine, education and engineering to learn how technology could be applied to their respective fields.

He advised accounting students to develop proficiency in Excel and accounting software, while mass communication students should learn search engine optimisation, digital marketing, content writing and online publishing. 

Engineering students, he said, could acquire practical skills in AutoCAD, Revit, MATLAB, embedded systems and Internet of Things technologies.

The technology expert also identified graphic design as an accessible opportunity for young people, recommending Canva, Photoshop and CorelDRAW, adding that graduates who could use digital tools to solve practical problems would have additional avenues for employment and self-employment.

He, however, cautioned that acquiring AI tools without basic digital competence would be counterproductive, stressing that digital literacy must come before AI literacy. 

He urged job seekers to master basic workplace technologies, including Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel and video-conferencing platforms, before advancing to AI-powered applications.

Durosinmi also encouraged young Nigerians to build professional profiles on LinkedIn and continually upgrade their skills, saying the changing labour market would increasingly reward people who could combine academic knowledge with practical digital competence. 

“We don’t even need to wait till 2030. There are some jobs that are no longer in vogue,” he said.