Kaduna, NBTE And Skills Acquisition Deal
By Nasir Dambatta
The recent meeting by Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani-led team of government officials and officials of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) on one of the most critical stimulus of economic growth and prosperity – technical skills acquisition, reminds me of one universal fact.
There is a symbiotic relationship between economic growth and technical skills acquisition and application for the invention and reinvention of products and services in a society that strives to prosper as one.
Technical skills acquisition and application in inventions and reinvention according to emerging needs have always formed the connerstone of the educational policy of every developing and developed society.
Considering the form and trend of development and advancement of societies since the dawn of history, no society sails through the challenges of the turbulent times to grow and prosper without prioritising the acquisition and application of technical skills by the productive sector of its population in its educational system.
The ever-changing trend of economic advancement globally underscores the imperative for the productive sector of the population of every country to acquire the relevant skills of production, reproduction and maintenance of the products and services, which form the required tools for economic growth and prosperity.
It is, I am confident, in realisation of this universal fact that Governor Uba Sani deemed it imperative to lead his administration to key into the global trend to facilitate the rapid grown of the economy of Kaduna State.
The most-critical agency to strike a deal with in this regard is the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), the agency charged with the responsibility of designing and coordinating the provision of the technical component of the country’s education system.
In a facinating frenzy, therefore, Senator Sani and his deputy, Dr Hadiza Sabuwa, and other senior government officials pulled the top management team from the Nigerian Board for Technical Education (NBTE) to a meeting to strike this critical deal.
The meeting was very clear on the huge requirement ahead – to improve the educational system and boost human capital in Kaduna State through the forging of sustainable partnerships with Federal Government Agencies and Development Partners.
Discussions were centred around establishing a state-of-the-art Skills Acquisition Village in collaboration with the Kaduna State Government to address the shortage of semi-skilled labour and vocational artisans in the state.
This deal is a gladdening signal of umpteen other deals ahead for the Governor Uba Sani administration to approach education and technical skills acquisition from all angles as the most critical tools for economic growth.
It implies that the administration would continue to explore avenues of deals striking with any government agency it comes across in its economic development drive.
The bottom line? Kaduna is ready for development deals!
Dambatta is Senior Special Assistant (Print Media) to the Governor of Kaduna State
