The National Council on Skills (NCS) has reviewed and ratified the alignment of the mandates of the Nigeria Board for Technical Education (NABTE) and the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) to support the industrialisation agenda of the administration of President Bola Tinubu.
The Council has also adopted the National Skills Observatory platform as the foundation for evidence-based policymaking in Nigeria.
Accordingly, NCS has set up a committee to review the policy recommendations on the alignment of Nigeria’s national interests with skills development and industrialisation.
The decisions were the main highlights of the 9th meeting of the National Council on Skills chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima in Abuja on Tuesday.
In his brief remarks at the meeting, the Vice President emphasised the need to align national training infrastructure with industry needs, ratifying the new mandate that aligns with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
Speaking during an interaction with journalists shortly after the meeting, Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, said the focus of the 9th National Skills Council meeting was in furtherance of the mandate of President Tinubu to give more job opportunities to young Nigerians across different sectors of the economy.
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He said the National Council on Skills, chaired by Vice President Shettima under the current administration, is reinvigorated and primed to achieve greater results in the interest of the teeming Nigerian youths.
The minister said the 9th meeting of the council focused more on achieving and streamlining the national skills qualification framework, as well as how the awarding bodies and the sectoral skills council will work.
He added that the meeting also discussed the partnership between the Aliko Dangote Skills Acquisition Centre, Kano and the Kano State government to finalse the eventual takeover of the centre by the Aliko Dangote Foundation.
Minister of State for Industry, Mr. John Enoh, said the Nigerian government was making concerted efforts to achieve industrialidation by re-invigorating the skills sector, which he said must be developed through the provision of vocational and related training in specific skill sets for young Nigerians.
The Minister also noted that the special skills programme introduced by the current administration is very important, particularly as Nigeria pushes towards industrialisation.
In the same vein, Jigawa State Governor, Umar Namadi, described the national skills programme as one of the best things that has ever happened to the nation.
He also outlined the programmes currently being implemented in Jigawa State in the skills sector, even as he commended the administration of President Tinubu for creating the enabling environment for sub-nationals to create opportunities for young Nigerians across different sectors.
