Nigeria’s Minister of Innovation Science and Technology Uche Nnaji has said that the country will be training skilled artisans with certificates to carry out professional duties in the country and even outside Nigeria
He said that the move becomes necessary in order to save the capital flight of billions Nigeria spend on the importation of skilled artisans.
The Minister stated this in Abuja Nigeria’s capital at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding MoU between the National Center for Technology Management (NACETEM) with it’s technical partners in academia and industry.
Nnaji said that the already established Technology and Innovation centres by the Ministry across the six geo-political zones of Nigeria will amongst others accommodate the training of welders to acquire the International welding certification (ISO) in order to meet up with the international standards.
“We are lacking in skilled artisans, looking at the Dangote Refinery. Dangote Refinery employed about 11000 artisans welders to say but none of those welders came from Nigeria. They were all imported. A job as small as weldering that we have over millions of welders in Nigeria but none of them has ISO certification. A welder is paid about 150 dollars a day. Multiply it by how many Dangote imported into this country for his job.” He said
He said the Ministry is already in move with the Nigerian welding institute to train and issue ISO certification to the welders to not only work in Nigeria but also out the Country.
” I am delighted that NACETEM has already started the work by collaborating with the Federal University of Technology Minna, Commit Technoloy and consult ltd, Neuro linguistic programming ltd to develop that skill that deals with technology, that deals with hiring people who are technologically inclined and having their certificates that way we can have people working with their computers in Nigeria and be earning their salary in dollars.”
The Director General of the National Center for Technology Management NACETEM Dr. Olushola Odusanya said that in the realization of their mandate, NACETEM designed a finishing school where middle and high-level manpower are trained.
“In the job market, 70% of employed individuals are vocationally trained, and we are addressing the potential challenge of a shift from training physical manpower to other systems,” He said.
He emphasized that NACETEM’s academy serves as a reservoir for developing skilled individuals capable of getting things done.
The Vice Chancellor of Federal University of Technology Minna, (FUT) Prof. Faruk Adamu Kuta, who is one of the partners in academia stated that the University is a specialized one that is meant for activation of knowledge and technological skills with its focus usually product driven for public consumption.
“The University is about forty years old or more, as the name implies, it is a specialized university meant for the activation of technology and scientific scale. The focus of the University in all our program is usually product driven, and so that is why he didn’t miss his way to come to the Federal University of Technology Minna to align with us.” Prof Kuta said.
The MoU between the National Centre for Technology Management NACETEM an Agency of the Ministry was signed with the Federal University of Technology Minna (FUT), Neuro-Linguistic Programming Ltd, Commit Technology & Consult and the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR).
