At a time insecurity is ravaging Nigeria, critical stakeholders must continue to do everything possible to address youth unemployment, one of the factors aggravating the country’s security challenges.
With white-collar jobs are becoming rare luxuries in modern-day Nigeria, emphasis has since shifted to promoting entrepreneurship, skills and talent development among the youth.
To drive socio-economic growth, and address the problem of unemployment, many economic experts are of the view that imparting requisite entrepreneurial skills, especially in the youth must start from tertiary institutions, preparatory to the graduation of students.
At the moment, entrepreneurship development is fully studied or better still offered as a course in most Nigerian universities, polytechnics and colleges of education, which attach a great premium to boosting entrepreneurial studies, and equally offer this as courses.
While a university is a high-level educational institution in which students study for degrees and academic research is carried out, a polytechnic is a technical educational institution focusing on practical and skills-oriented training, especially in the field of engineeering, technology, among others.
A college of education competes with normal schools in the preparation of teachers. Teacher education, curriculum building, and instruction remain the core offering of colleges or schools of education.
Recently, the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) challenged polytechnics and colleges of education in the country to redouble their efforts in entrepreneurship and skills development.
The Executive Secretary of the Fund, Professor Suleiman Bogoro, made the call at a capacity building workshop for heads of selected institutions and staff of TETFund Centres of Excellence.
Bogoro called on the Centres of Excellence in the polytechnics to focus on skills development, entrepreneurship and the enabling of relevant start-ups, even as he lamented that most of the low and medium-skilled jobs in the country are being handled by people from Francophone countries.
Speaking in the same vein, the Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Professor Idris Muhammad Bugaje said polytechnics must wake up to their responsibility of producing skilled manpower for the country.
The NBTE boss expressed serious concern that most major infrastructure projects in the country are being dominated by skilled personnel from other countries.
“There is need for our polytechnics to be focused on skills training, that is why we say from 2023, NBTE shall never go for the accreditation of any polytechnic where there is not a single skills training centre,” Bugaje said.
There are indices globally associated with Centres of Excellence, especially in bringing about innovation and development. Higher institutions of learning, especially the polytechnics should focus more on skills development and the support of entrepreneurship, start ups, among others.
In the areas of competitive advantage, skills development is central and fundamental. Polytechnics should have the capacity to develop skills or the entrepreneurial ability of students and researchers.
It is worrisome and embarrassing to observe that in some construction sites there are more foreigners than Nigerian workers, despite the fact that our polytechnics are churning more than enough skilled manpower on engineering and technical for the construction industry.
We should recall that TETFund had recently established Centres of Excellence in six polytechnics and six colleges of education.
The beneficiary institutions selected equally from each of the six geo-political zones in the country are: Federal Polytechnic Nasarawa, Nasarawa State; Federal College of Education, Pankshin, Plateau State (North Central); Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi, Bauchi State; Federal College Education, Yola, Adamawa State (North East); Federal Polytechnic, Kaduna, Kaduna State; and Federal College of Education, Zaria, Kaduna State (North-West).
Also, the South-East has Federal Polytechnic, Nekede, Imo State and the Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education, Owerri, Imo State. The South-South’s beneficiaries include Federal Polytechnic, Auchi, Edo State and Federal College of Education (Technical), Omoku, Rivers State.
Yaba College of Technology, Lagos and Adeyemi College Education, Ondo State made the list for the South-West.
At a time insecurity is ravaging Nigeria, critical stakeholders must continue to do everything possible to address youth unemployment, one of the factors aggravating the country’s security challenges.
TETFund’s charge to our polytechnics and Colleges of Education to ‘aggressively’ boost entrepreneurship and skills development could not have come at a better time.
Rahma Olamide Oladosu writes from Abuja.
Support PREMIUM TIMES' journalism of integrity and credibility
Good journalism costs a lot of money. Yet only good journalism can ensure the possibility of a good society, an accountable democracy, and a transparent government.
For continued free access to the best investigative journalism in the country we ask you to consider making a modest support to this noble endeavour.
By contributing to PREMIUM TIMES, you are helping to sustain a journalism of relevance and ensuring it remains free and available to all.
TEXT AD: Call Willie - +2348098788999
