The Industrial Training Fund and the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association have called for increased government and private sector investment in technical and vocational education, saying about 90 per cent of graduates of their joint training programme have secured jobs or established businesses.
The organisations said stronger financial support, industry participation and access to tools and enterprise financing would help more young Nigerians convert technical skills into sustainable livelihoods and contribute to industrial growth.
The Director-General of NECA, Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, made the call at the eighth edition of the ITF-NECA Technical Skills Development Project stakeholders’ dialogue forum and outstanding trainees’ awards ceremony held on Thursday in Abuja.
He said the initiative, which began in 2009, had trained young Nigerians in more than 35 technical and vocational trades across the six geopolitical zones, with 84 organisations participating in the programme.
Oyerinde said, “Available project records indicate that approximately 90 per cent of graduates of this project have secured employment or established their own businesses.”
He said the partnership was established after a joint survey conducted by ITF and NECA in 2008 identified a significant mismatch between the technical skills available in the labour market and those required by industries.
The survey identified shortages in mechanical maintenance, welding, electrical and electronic maintenance, automation, instrumentation and other industrial trades.
“On March 31, 2009, the NECA-ITF-TSDP was established as a strategic public-private partnership to equip young Nigerians with practical, industry-advanced technical skills and create a sustainable pipeline of skilled manpower for the nation’s industries,” he said.
Oyerinde said the partnership had demonstrated the importance of sustained collaboration between government and employers, adding that the country needed to prepare its workforce for changes in technology, automation, robotics, digital manufacturing and cleaner energy.
He disclosed that NECA, in collaboration with the International Organisation of Employers and Microsoft, had registered 101,000 young Nigerians for an artificial intelligence training programme, with more than 87,000 obtaining certificates.
He urged financial institutions and other private sector organisations to support credible vocational training programmes and provide funding that would enable graduates to establish businesses rather than depend solely on paid employment.
“We need to find a way to empower some of these young ones so that they can become entrepreneurs. That’s where the future of this project is,” he said.
The Chairman of the ITF Governing Council, Hamma-Adama Ali Kumo, represented by Mercy Oyewole, said technical skills were essential to improving productivity, strengthening local production and reducing the country’s dependence on imported expertise.
She said the impact of training should not be measured only by the number of people who completed programmes but also by their ability to secure jobs, run viable businesses and meet employers’ expectations.
“The true graduation ceremony is the day a skill begins to earn a living. That should challenge all of us to look beyond the completion of training and pay closer attention to what happens afterwards,” she said.
Oyewole urged employers to provide trainees with workplace exposure, mentorship and employment opportunities, while calling for better access to tools, shared facilities, business support and financing for those seeking self-employment.
She also advocated greater inclusion of women, persons with disabilities and young people facing economic barriers, insisting that technical occupations should be accessible to all qualified candidates.
The Ministry of Labour and Employment, represented by its Director of Skills Development, Gabriel Ojelade, said vocational training remained central to efforts to promote decent employment, improve productivity and reduce youth unemployment.
He urged stakeholders to deepen collaboration and ensure that training programmes remained aligned with labour market demands.
Similarly, representative of the Ministry of Youth Development called for the expansion of technical training into emerging sectors, including renewable energy, digital technology and advanced manufacturing.
The ministry said the programme could support job creation, poverty reduction, economic diversification and import substitution by improving Nigeria’s capacity to produce skilled technicians and artisans.
The stakeholders urged employers to open their factories and workshops to trainees, provide mentorship and help create pathways from training to productive employment.