LINUS OOTA writes on the innovations introduced by Governor Abdullahi Sule to take Nasarawa youths out of the streets through skills acquisition.
Available white-collar jobs can no longer cater for the number of job seekers in the country. This calls for a means of engaging the younger generation in skill acquisition training in the vocation of their choice for both personal or commercial benefits.
Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa state in fulfillment of this demand took far reaching measures on various entrepreneurship training offered by his administration.
The Governor is determined to create a society where youths will be self reliant with relevant skills in order to bridge the unemployment and innovative gap in youth productivity thereby making them gainfully employed.
The Wing Commander Abdullahi Ibrahim Vocational and Technology Institute established by Governor Abdullahi Sule offers entrepreneurship skills development such as, tailoring, mechanical engineering, solar panels system installations, wielding and several other skills that will help take the youths off the street.
Speaking exclusively to our correspondent on the idea behind the establishment of the Skills Acquisition Center, Governor Abdullahi Sule said, as a trained engineer who has strong believe in education for self reliance, the vision for the technical institute is all encompassing.
First, this institute is expected to impact necessary technical skills on the youths, as well as graduates of universities and polytechnics from other fields of study, who will be trained to become self reliance.
Secondly, the institute will be employed by factories that will spring up across the state. Thirdly, the manufacturing spare parts to be used by industries from within and outside the state.
Governor Sule’s experience while trying to eake a living and at the same time pursuing his academic programme abroad, must have fired his vision for acquisition of skills alongside formal education.
He had told Bukuru Old Students Association (BOSAT) who paid him a courtesy call recently that he set up the institute in appreciation for what technical has done to him.
He recounted how he rose from being a janitor to a renowned engineer and now Governor. He said when he came onboard as Governor, he saw the establishment of the institute as an opportunity to bring his knowledge and experience to bear towards impacting on the lives of the people of the state.
He said he proceed on scholarship for the Indiana State University in the United States, explaining that his wielding background made it possible for him to successfully graduate, rise in his career and to become what he is today.
“I looked for a part time weilding job paying 2.75 USD an hour. I will now go an spend all the hours I could possibly do carrying out welding and I made a lot of money and I became richer than my friends.
“I was able to graduate in 3 years with 4 years scholarship. Then the last one year, I did my masters because I had a wielding Job.
“On my return to Nigeria, I worked in Jos steel rolling company only for about three years and returned to Houston, Texas where because of the opportunity in the area of wielding, I was for the first time introduced into the oil and gas sector.
“I was not an oil person originally. I was trained a weilder and then I did mechanical technology. At the end of the day, I was using that knowledge to work on an oil and gas platform, because on the platform, wielders and fabricators are kings. I started taking the seismic. Eventually they moved me into a weilding shop to do a CNC machine programmed and operation.
“That is where I learned about all the conversational programme in the CNC” he said
He said his knowledge and experience informed the decision to set up the Wing Commander Abdullahi Ibrahim Vocational and Technical Institute in order to give back to the society.
“That is why I said when I come to Nigeria, in Nasarawa State, when I set up a technical school, there must be a CNC machine. I was a hot cake just like any CNC programmer.
“It doesn’t matter what anyone says, I feel fulfilled. I feel I have been able to bring the knowledge, the experiences I had in order to impact on our people locally” he added
Like he promised, the institute does not only have a CNC machine but many others that impact skills to hitherto job seekers, primary school pupils, their secondary counterparts, and even graduates through its about 40 components.
In establishing the institute, he had to search for someone who shared his vision to drive the process. In nearby Jos, Plateau state at the Nigeria Industrial Training Fund, he picked Dr Asele Ewuga Daniel who agreed to take some leave of absence to head the institute.
Speaking to our correspondent also, Dr Asele Ewuga who the executive director of the school said, the institute has trained over 900 graduates who are already doing well in their area of trade.
He said, the institute has three categories of trainees. There are those who have never been in school, those who are through with their secondary education as well as those who have obtained their degrees, HND, and Masters and even PhD. He said there is another category especially for vulnerable women.
He said of special interest, is the opportunity accorded to University graduates by the Governor to acquire training in the areas of choice. He said some first class graduates of the state owned University in Keffi and the Federal University of Lafia benefited from the training programmes at the institute.
After the training, each of the student was given capital to start the trade and become employers of labour. He said the recent gesture was the training of about 50 first class graduates of the FULAFIA who were given N500,000 each to set up their businesses.
Speaking about the need for graduates to also acquire skills, Governor Sule has said that, having education without skills is defective, stressing that anyone without the requisite skill will always find it difficult to function independently.
He emphasized on the need for Nigerian graduates to acquire technical, vocational and entrepreneurial skills towards self-reliance.
According to the Governor, the high turnover of graduates from institutions of higher learning across the country, makes it imperative that Nigerian graduates acquire not only degrees but also skills that will make them self-reliant and employers of labour.
Dr Asele agreed that in the era of rising unemployment with many competing for few or non existent jobs, skills acquisition is the way to go.
In other climes, while youths are gainfully employed, being prepared for leadership in government, financial institutions, defense, medical field, religion and several meaningful venture, the reverse is the case in Nigeria.
However, in recent times, skills acquisition in line with government’s policy have been propagated by both public and private entities to help reduce the unemployment rate amongst teeming Nigerian youths.
The executive director of the Wing Commander Abdullahi Ibrahim Vocational and Skills Acquisition Institute Lafia, Dr Adele Ewuga said about 70 youths selected from across the state are currently undergoing training for various skills.
According to Dr. Ewuga, the first batch of trainees at the institute comprises of 40 youths, who will undergo intensive training in Information Communication Technology (ICT), while the remaining 30 will be trained on wielding and fabrication.
He explained that, after the training, which will last for 3 months, the trainees will graduate with the National Skills Qualification (NSQ) certificate, as well as the National Business and Technical Examination Board (NABTEB) certificate.
The executive director added that, the institute has also begun the process of ensuring that it register with appropriate regulatory agencies, in order to be able to issue its trainees with the National Innovative Diploma (NID).
“The bottomline of all the training we are doing here, is that at end of it, they will be employers of labour. Before now, Nigerians interest is only on paper qualification. Your paper qualification cannot give you anything today. Your certificate cannot fetch food for you today. Your certificate cannot respond to food, to money,” Dr. Ewuga said.
He emphasized that, the institute is impacting vocational skills on the youths so that they can start their own business, as well as become employers of labour.
“It’s only skills that respond to money and money responds to skills. Your certificate can only cure your illiteracy. It cannot cure your poverty. It’s your skills that can cure poverty today,” he added.
When the trainees are out of this place, we expect them to go an establish their business. That is why we call it SYB. Start Your Business. And in turn they will employ others to work with them.
Speaking during his inspection visit at the facility, Nasarawa State Governor, Engineer Abdullahi Sule, expressed satisfaction that the Wing Commander Abdullahi Ibrahim Vocational and Skills Acquisition Institute, has commenced training of youths from across the state.
Engineer Sule commended the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) for effectively utilizing the facility to the benefit of the people of the state and the country at large.
The Governor urged the trainees to use the opportunity provided at the institute to acquire vocational skills that will make them self employed.
According to him, it gives him a sense of fulfilment to see the institute commence its activities with 70 youths drawn across the state, stressing that this further serves the policy thrust of his administration in the area of human capital development.
Engineer Sule expressed hope that, with the springing of industries across the state, the Lafia vocational institute will serve as a centre for the training of qualified manpower to man these industries.
The Governor, who couldn’t hide his excitement seeing the trainees, used the opportunity to test his wielding and fabrication skills.
He also use the occasion to presents N200, 000 cheques to 40 best graduating trainees as 105 retiring civil servants receive certificates in various skills where they emerged best in wielding and fabrication, ICT, tailoring and fashion design.
According to the Governor, those about to leave the service have paid their dues, having worked hard to contribute towards the development of the state.
He however expressed concerned over the plight of retirees in the State who in the past leave the service with no hope of getting their retirement benefits.
“We came an inherited a situation where when somebody is leaving, he is not leaving with his gratuity, he is not leaving with his complete package so the he will go and set up something to do. A lot of people actually leave and when they leave they stay so many years without seeing their complete gratuity. And that is very very painful if you are truly a leader,” he said.
Governor Sule said as someone who worked in several companies where he received his entire benefits on the day he retired, he became disturbed after realizing that some retired civil servants did not get their retirement benefits since 1996 when Nasarawa State was created.
He said on coming onboard, his administration paid all the retirees from 1996 all the way to 2011and is now working towards the payment of those who left the state civil service from 2011 to date.
The Governor pointed out that with the growing number of retiring civil servants, the ideal situation for the state is to introduce the contributory pension scheme, which would see retirees getting their entire benefits on retirement.
“Because everyday you have people leaving. But the ideal thing to do was a situation that I found myself when I was in another company. When I was there, every time you are paid your salary your contribution is paid directly to a pension manager. We were in a contributory pension scheme. But in Nasarawa State we are still not yet on contributory pension scheme. My dream, by the grace of God, is to see that we establish contributory pension scheme before I leave,” he stated.
He said his administration introduced the pre-retirement programme for about-to-retire civil servants in order to impact vocational skills on the retirees to prepare them for live after service.
“Many retirees suffer because of lack of planning for retirement. That is why when I am here I said let me use the opportunity so that our retirees from this state will not face the same problem faced by those who fritter their retire benefits.
“Even though they may not have 20m to do that but we will give them a skill and try to connect them with a facility,” he added.
He added that his experience in the United State where he was forced to use the skills he learned at the Bukuru Technical College to earned a living, motivated him to convert the structure initiated by his immediate past predecessor to into a vocational institute in order to provide opportunity for the youths and citizens of the state to acquire skills that would change their lives for the better.
“For me, as far as this institute is concerned, I am fulfilled. That is exactly what I was looking forward to and I am happy other people are buying in and doing what is supposed to be done. This week I got my satisfaction both left and right. The matriculation at the faculty of engineering Gudi with over 100 engineers coming onboard. It’s a fulfilled week, with what we have been dreaming coming to reality,” he said.
Earlier, Dr Daniel Ewuga Asele, said the institution that was established in 2022 has so far graduated two sets of beneficiaries.
“You are the first Governor to have introduced pre retirement vocational skills for civil servants about to retire from government service. This is the only way to go. We have a total of 105, all from the civil service of Nasarawa State. They have been here for the past two weeks. They have been well trained, and we have also been feeding them for the past two weeks,” he said.
In a goodwill message, Head of the Civil Service, Abigail Waya, appreciated the Governor for giving citizens of the state skills with which they can make a living.
“This is not just a meal ticket. A meal ticket presupposes that it’s just for food. But this is beyond just food. With the skills we are being given, we can eat, build houses, educate our children, marry and we can do many other things. We can be a blessing to Nigeria, employ labour,” the HOS said.
She said civil servants in Nasarawa State never had it so good like under the present administration of Governor Sule.
