Kogi Monarch Tasks FG on Technical Education to Tackle Unemployment

Ibrahim Oyewale in Lokoja

A first-class traditional ruler and the Chairman of Lokoja Traditional Council in Kogi State, the Maigari, Alhaji Ibrahim Kabir, Maikarfi IV, has appealed to the federal government to revert to the era of technical education and Technical Colleges to tackle youth unemployment.

The royal father, who made this call while speaking at the opening ceremony of the National Agency Science and Engineering Infrastructure NASENI Training and Empowerment programme in Lokoja yesterday, pointed out that in those days, the technical colleges were producing middle-level manpower as technicians, noting that the graduates were at best against the backdrop of the present-day graduates of higher institutions who solely relied on the certificate and remained unemployed for several years.

The Maigari, who was represented by a high chief, the Mattawalli of Lokoja, Alhaji Adamu Mohammed, recalled that the students of Lokoja Technical College were helping to repair cars, were good at carpentry and electrical works, and other skills.

He, therefore, urged the federal government to revive technical education, which he said did not require higher qualifications, to reduce the high tide of youth unemployment in the country.

The traditional ruler added that it is high time the federal government and the Ministry of Education reassigned technical education in the curriculum to ignite skill acquisition.

He tasked the beneficiaries to take advantage of the NASENI training and the empowerment programme to learn the skill and become self-reliant in the future.

Earlier, the Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer of the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), Dr.  Khalid Halilu, explained that the federal government has reinforced its commitment to eradicate youth unemployment through skill acquisition interventions to bridge the gap in the ongoing global innovations and technologies.

Halilu made this known while speaking at the official flag-off of the training of 120 electricians in modern electrical installation and maintenance in Lokoja yesterday.

He stated that this has become imperative with a view to ensuring that the teeming youths acquire skills which will fortify their future rather than looking for unavailable white-collar jobs, stressing that skill acquisition is the in-thing now.

The Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer of NASENI, who was presented by a  Research Director in the agency, Professor Abdulmaliki Ibrahim, noted that the programme is an instance of the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu, “who has magnanimously  approved the training of the teeming youth in skill acquisition in various fields through NASENI to bridge the gap in global innovations and technologies.”

He explained that the youths must take advantage of the presidential/NASENI training programme to acquire skills and help themselves in the near future.

The executive director pointed out that the programme is simultaneously taking place across the country, noting that Kogi State is the 27th state in Nigeria, noting that  the first phase is about to end and the second will start immediately across the country.