Gombe State Governor, Muhammadu Yahaya, on Tuesday harped the importance of skills development, particularly vocational skills, in driving Nigeria’s progress.
Yahaya made this disclosure during a visit from the board of College of Education Technical, stressing that “emphasis must be put in vocational skills development if we are to progress.”
He highlighted the need for institutions to focus on technical education, which would lead to the development of artisans and craftsmanship necessary for societal development and industrialisation.
Yahaya said, “This approach will make Nigeria self-reliant, leveraging its large youth population, with 65 per cent of its nearly 230 million people under 25 years old.
Yahaya noted that other countries, such as Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, India, and China, “have achieved economic growth and improved their foreign exchange by focusing on skills development,” he added.
The governor urged the college to play a big role in achieving this goal, assuring them of his administration’s support saying, “You have a college that can do that. We are ready to support you to give you the necessary push to obtain the ideal situation.”
He also emphasised the importance of partnership, saying, “The partnership is key. You need to work together to be sure you meet the expectations of the people.”
Speaking earlier, Chairman of the Governing Council, Gaza Lazarus, said no fewer than 25,000 teachers have been produced by the Federal College of Education (Technical), Gombe since it was established in 1977.
Lazarus noted that the products are currently teachers across private and public schools.
He said, “Federal College of Education (Technical), Gombe was established by the Federal Government since 1977 with a mandate and vision to produce high quality and well-motivated Vocational, Technical and Science teachers for primary, junior and senior Secondary schools in the Country.
“It has produced over 25,000 NCE teachers and a number of graduates from its Degree Programme under affiliation with the University of Maiduguri and the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Bauchi over the years.”
