Skills Acquisition: FG, World Bank Approves $200m Credit Facility for Youths

Kuni Tyessi

The federal government and the World Bank have approved to Nigerian youths a $200million credit facility to enhance skills acquisition in the formal and informal sectors of the nation’s economy in order to reduce the high rate of unemployment.

A press statement by the Director Press, Federal Ministry of Education, Mr. Ben Bem Goong, averred that the Minister of Education, Mr. Adamu Adamu, revealed this at a workshop organised by the federal government and the World Bank in Makurdi, Benue State capital.

According to the statement, the two-day workshop is part of measures to reposition technical education in Nigeria, adding that the workshop was put together under the World Bank’s sponsored project Innovation Development and Effectiveness in the Acquisition of Skills (IDEALS) has the Federal Ministry of Education, the National Board for Technical Education, Abia, Edo, Ekiti, Benue, Gombe and Kano States as implementing agencies.

In his message at the opening ceremony, the Minister, who was represented by the National Project Coordinator, Mrs. Blessing Ogwu, said that the essence of the IDEAS project is to address the current deficiencies in the education system that have made a large number of school leavers unemployed, urging Nigerian youths to take full advantage of the opportunities offered by the project.

According to the minister, an estimated 40 technical colleges in the country, alongside the private sector will benefit from the project which also has a technical teacher training component.

The Minister stated that the $200million from the World Bank is for the project that would be implemented over a five-year period.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Benue State Commissioner for Education, Dr. Saawuan Tarnongu, commended the World Bank, Federal Ministry of Education and other stakeholders for organising the workshop, pledging the total support and commitment of the government and good people of Benue State towards the successful implementation of the project.

As part of its commitment, the commissioner said that Governor of Benue State, Mr. Samuel Ortom, has approved the recruitment of science and technical teachers as well as the erection of perimeter fences for all the colleges selected for the project in the state.

On his part, the State Coordinator of IDEAS Project, Mr. Samuel Kwende, told participants that the training of key players in the chain of the implementation process is a prerequisite for the overall success of the project.