A New Era of Vocational Training and 

Youth Empowerment Dawns in Kaduna

Auwalu Ibrahim Mustapha

On Thursday, August 27, 2026, Kaduna State did more than celebrate the graduation of 4,050 young men and women. It marked a significant moment in the state’s human-capital development journey and offered a compelling illustration of Governor Uba Sani’s governing philosophy: that the fight against poverty, unemployment and insecurity must ultimately be anchored in the capacity of citizens to earn, create and participate meaningfully in the economy.

At the maiden graduation ceremony of the Kaduna State Institute of Vocational Training and Skills Development (IVTSD), trainees from the institute’s three campuses received the National Skills Qualification (NSQ) Level II after successfully completing their programmes. For Governor Sani, the occasion represented far more than the presentation of certificates. It was, he said, “celebrating competence, discipline, resilience and the dignity of productive work,” while opening “a new chapter in Kaduna State’s human-capital journey.”

The significance of the initiative lies in the circumstances from which it emerged. Kaduna, like many parts of Nigeria, has had to contend with unemployment, poverty, insecurity, weakened infrastructure and deep social vulnerabilities. The response of the Uba Sani administration has been to broaden the traditional definition of development. “Development cannot be reduced to just roads, bridges and buildings,” the governor said. “Infrastructure is important, but its ultimate purpose is to enlarge human possibility.”

That philosophy explains why education, skills development, healthcare, agriculture, financial inclusion, enterprise and infrastructure have been placed at the centre of the administration’s development agenda. The objective is to create an environment in which a young person does not have to depend solely on the prospect of a government job, a woman can convert a skill into an enterprise, a person living with disability can participate productively in the economy and an artisan can move from informal subsistence towards recognised, competitive craftsmanship.

The three IVTSD campuses:  the Abdulkadir Balarabe Musa Campus in Rigachikun, the Abubakar Dangiwa Umar Campus in Soba and the Sir Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa Campus in Samaru Kataf, were deliberately established to serve Kaduna’s three senatorial districts. Their programmes cover 14 trades, including electrical installation, welding and fabrication, aluminium fabrication, computer hardware repairs and maintenance, catering and hospitality, masonry, refrigeration and air conditioning, fashion design and garment making, carpentry and joinery, painting and decoration, tiling, plumbing and pipe fitting, solar installation and automotive mechatronics.

The training combines practical instruction with theory, literacy, numeracy, entrepreneurship and soft skills. Through collaboration with the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), the Institute operates in accordance with National Occupational Standards and awards the National Skills Qualification under the Nigerian Skills Qualifications Framework. This is important because the ambition is not simply to teach young people trades, but to give them credible qualifications that can open pathways to employment, entrepreneurship and further professional development.

The federal government’s recognition of the initiative has strengthened its significance. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu commissioned the Institute during his working visit to Kaduna in June 2025, an event that underscored the alignment between the state’s skills-development agenda and the federal government’s broader emphasis on youth empowerment and workforce development.

Prof. Idris Bugaje, Executive Secretary of NBTE, described Kaduna as “a growing hub for skills development in Nigeria” and observed that “vocational training and skills development are widely recognised as a pathway to empower individuals with practical knowledge, enhance self-reliance, and ensure gainful employment.”

Even more significant was the commendation conveyed by Vice President Kashim Shettima, in his capacity as Chairman of the National Council on Skills. In a letter dated March 30, 2026, the Vice President praised Kaduna for establishing its State Council on Skills, chaired by Governor Sani, saying the initiative “aligns perfectly with the Renewed Hope Agenda.” He described the Kaduna Model as a template for the federal government’s “Bottom-Up” approach to skills acquisition and encouraged the state to sustain the momentum.

The establishment of the Kaduna State Council on Skills in August 2024 reflects an effort to give the intervention institutional depth. The council provides strategic coordination for skills development and seeks to ensure that training responds to the requirements of the economy rather than operating as another disconnected empowerment scheme.

There are already indications that this approach is producing results. At the 6th National Construction Artisans Award in Abuja in February 2026, Kaduna trainee Ibrahim Abubakar Jikamshi emerged first in welding and was named Overall Best Artisan of the Year. Through the Recognition of Prior Learning pathway, 15 trainees have secured opportunities with the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation Nigeria Limited. The Federal Ministry of Education has also requested the use of Kaduna’s Technical and Vocational Training Manuals as reference materials for the development of national TVET manuals.

Governor Sani’s intervention also recognises a fundamental weakness in many skills-acquisition programmes: training without access to capital can leave graduates with certificates but without the means to deploy their skills. Consequently, his administration has sought to connect vocational education with financial inclusion and enterprise development.

In July 2023, the governor signed an Executive Order aimed at bringing approximately 2.5 million underserved and vulnerable citizens into the formal financial system. The initiative provided for a state financial-inclusion strategy, a register of poor and vulnerable persons, collaboration with banks and fintech companies, and financial-literacy programmes. Nearly three million Kaduna residents have reportedly benefited from easier access to financial services and government interventions.

The same emphasis on productive participation informs the administration’s support for micro, small and medium enterprises. Kaduna allocated N4.2 billion in relief funds to assist more than 4,000 SMEs and vulnerable households facing economic hardship, while the Kaduna State Enterprise Development Agency supported 8,649 nano and micro businesses with grants ranging from N50,000 to ₦300,000. A N500 million revolving loan scheme at a five per cent interest rate was also introduced for civil servants.

The remodelling of Panteka Market in Tudun Wada adds another important dimension. Designed as a major skills and enterprise hub, the initiative is expected to serve more than 38,000 artisans, providing opportunities for modern training in areas such as carpentry, welding, painting, roofing, plumbing and electrical work. It is an attempt to close the artificial gap between formal education and craftsmanship and to demonstrate that technical competence is an essential component of a modern economy.

This connection between economic opportunity and security is particularly relevant in Kaduna. The administration’s non-kinetic approach to security rests partly on the recognition that communities are more resilient when citizens have livelihoods, hope and a stake in stability. As Governor Sani put it, “security is not merely the absence of violence; it is the presence of opportunity, hope and dignity.”

The same development logic extends to agriculture. Kaduna is seeking to move farmers from subsistence to commercial production and from raw commodities to value addition. The Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone in Chikun is central to this ambition, with the broader objective of making agriculture a source not only of food but also of employment, industrial growth and wealth creation.

What emerges from these interventions is a coherent conception of governance in which physical infrastructure and human development are complementary rather than competing priorities. Roads, schools, healthcare facilities and other public infrastructure remain important, but their ultimate value is measured by the opportunities they create for citizens.

The governor’s decision to approve N200,000 for each of the 4,050 graduating trainees, amounting to N810 million, is a practical extension of this philosophy. The grant, to be administered through the Kaduna State Enterprise Development Agency, is intended to help graduates acquire tools, secure working capital, obtain professional registration, access shared workspace or meet transportation needs as they move into employment and enterprise.

Crucially, the administration says the grant will not replace its job-placement efforts. Engagements are being pursued with companies and industries for direct employment, apprenticeships, internships, mentorship, subcontracting and other opportunities. A digital platform is also being developed to connect graduates with employers and track employment outcomes.

That is the appropriate measure of the programme’s success. Enrolment and graduation figures are useful, but the real test will be the number of graduates who secure decent employment, establish sustainable businesses, obtain contracts, increase their incomes and create opportunities for others.

Governor Uba Sani has reminded the graduates that their qualification is only the beginning. “Do not measure success only by the job you obtain,” he told them. “Measure it also by the value you create, the people you employ, the problems you solve and the lives you improve.”

He urged them to “let your skills become instruments of dignity,” while reminding them that competence must be accompanied by integrity, adaptability, discipline and a commitment to continuous learning.

That message captures the larger promise of Kaduna’s vocational experiment. Skills acquisition, when properly designed and connected to finance, markets and employment, can become a powerful instrument of economic inclusion. It can give young people a stake in the future, strengthen households, support local enterprise and complement the security architecture by addressing some of the economic vulnerabilities that feed instability.

The maiden graduation of 4,050 trainees is therefore best understood not as the conclusion of a government programme, but as the first major test of a development philosophy. Its success will depend on what happens after graduation: whether skills become livelihoods, livelihoods become enterprises, and enterprises contribute to a more productive and secure Kaduna.

Governor Sani’s ambition is clear; “skills become opportunity, opportunity becomes enterprise, and enterprise becomes dignity, prosperity and lasting impact.”

For Kaduna, that is the more consequential measure of governance. A government’s enduring legacy is not only what it builds with public funds, but what its citizens are enabled to build with their own hands, knowledge and enterprise. If the state can sustain this vocational ecosystem and keep connecting skills to capital, industry and opportunity, the 4,050 graduates of 2026 may eventually be remembered not merely as the Institute’s pioneer class, but as the beginning of a skills revolution that changed the economic trajectory of Kaduna State.

•Mustapha, a freelance journalist, resides in Kawo, Kaduna.