The National Council on Skills (NCS) has ratified the alignment of the mandates of the Nigeria Board for Technical Education (NABTE) and the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) to drive industrialisation.

The council also adopted the National Skills Observatory platform as the foundation for evidence-based policymaking in Nigeria.

The decisions, taken at the ninth meeting of the National Council on Nutrition on Wednesday in Abuja, aimed at supporting the industrialisation drive of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

Vice President Kashim Shettima, who presided over the meeting, emphasised the need to align national training infrastructure with industry needs and ratify the new mandate that aligns with Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, said the focus of the meeting was in furtherance of the mandate of Mr Tinubu to give more job opportunities to young Nigerians across different sectors of the economy.

He said the National Council on Skills, chaired by vice president was reinvigorated and primed to achieve greater results in the interest of the teeming Nigerian youths.

Mr Alausa also explained that ratification focused more on achieving and streamlining the national skills qualification framework as well as on how the awarding bodies will work and the sectorial skills council will work.

The meeting also discussed the partnership between the Aliko Dangote Skills Acquisition Centre, Kano and the Kano State government to finalise the eventual takeover of the centre by the Aliko Dangote Foundation.

For his part, the Minister of State for Industry, John Enoh, said the federal government was making concerted efforts to achieve industrialisation.

According to him, the government is reinvigorating the skills sector 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 Tinubu administration was 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  outlined the programmes currently being implemented in Jigawa State in the skills sector.

The governor commended the administration of Mr Tinubu for creating the enabling environment for sub-nationals to create opportunities for young Nigerians across different sectors. 

(NAN)