Leadership (Abuja)
Clem Khena-Ogbena
15 November 2008
Abuja — The speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Dimeji Bankole, has insisted that there is strong need to enhance employment opportunities for the nation's citizenry, as a way of empowering them economically and socially.
He reasoned that such empowerment apart from shoring up the country's gross national product (GNP), it would guarantee sustainable development, stressing, "Sustainable development cannot be achieved without enhancing employment opportunities for our teeming citizens to become productive, and thus boosting Gross National Product (GNP)."
Making these remarks Tuesday, at the three-day (11th -13th) Seventeenth ITF Bi-ennial National Training Conference and Exhibition, organised by the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), at the Shehu Musa Yar'Adua Centre, Abuja, the speaker noted that there is new recognition of the role of technical vocational skills in economic development and nation-building.
According to Bankole, the theme of the conference, "Technical Vocational Skills Acquisition For Employment and National Development: The Way Forward To Vision 2020" is timely and apt, in view of contemporary challenges of aligning Nigeria's educational delivery strategies in line with the dictates of national goals and priorities.
He added, "It is a theme I consider of utmost relevance in the strive to realise not only the objectives of the 7-Point Agenda, but the larger philosophy of Vision 20:2020", saying that strategies which have emphasised the delivery of functional knowledge, through formal or informal approaches, would be embraced in this era of global competitiveness.
Similarly, the secretary to the Federal Government of Nigeria, Alh. Yayale Ahmed, re-affirmed that all training must target itself at fulfilling the need of the marks by focusing on employable skills, adding, that efforts should be directed at capturing the informed sector as it provides the greatest potential for employment creation.
Yayale stated, "The challenge for institutions such as the ITF is to equip Nigerians with competitive and cutting edge skills, so that they will take advantage of such expected growth. I am aware the Industrial Training Fund has commenced efforts in this regard.
"The fund is re-positioning itself for a shift from management to vocational skills training. From information available to me, it is set to establish 15 skills centres, in addition to the already existing three, and has commenced process for the employment of engineers and technicians to man these centres."
While commending ITF's effort and urging it to serve as a beacon for the rest of the training sub sector, he reassured that the federal government is committed to such efforts.
Yayale also observed that no nation, no matter how well endowed with natural resources, would realise its full potential without equipping its full potentials with appropriate and employable skills, adding, "it is against this realisation that the nation, immediately after independence, embarked on deliberate efforts, including several agencies like the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Administrative Staff College of Nigeria (ASCON), the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) and several tertiary institutions among others in order to arm Nigerians with necessary expertise."
He, however, regretted that in spite of these efforts, the country is still facing massive employment, resulting in declining national productivity, spiraling crime, insecurity in the Niger Delta and a motley of other social vices..
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