Shettima Urges NCS to Build Skilled National Workforce for Nigeria

•Inaugurates reconstituted Council 

•Senate passes NYSC trust fund bill to empower corps members

Deji Elumoye and Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

Vice President Kashim Shettima has charged members of the reconstituted National Council on Skills (NCS) to focus more on building a skilled workforce in Nigeria.

The charge by the Vice President came just as a bill which seeks to establish the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Trust Fund was passed on the floor of the Senate yesterday.

Speaking yesterday, when he inaugurated the Council at the State House, Abuja, Shettima urged the council members to actively engage in discussions and collaborate to develop a comprehensive action plan.

According to him: “We must establish robust monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to track our progress. May our deliberations be fruitful, and may we emerge stronger and more united in our resolve to uplift the skills landscape of our beloved nation”.

The Vice President outlined the administration’s key strategies for a skilled workforce, including harmonising skills development policies, fast-tracking the National Skills Qualification Framework, establishing funding mechanisms and advocating for professional certification.

“A skilled nation is one that has paved its road to the future,” he stated, adding that the administration was aware of the realities the nation faces and recognises the monumental tasks that lied ahead for the NCS.

Shettima, also highlighted the NCS’s role as a driving force for skills development in Nigeria, saying, “since its inception in 2019, the National Council on Skills has emerged as a pivotal force in providing policy direction for our skills ecosystem.”

He further announced the addition of two new members to the council – the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Technical, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Education and the Chairman of the Committee of Sector Skill Councils in Nigeria.

“This underscores our commitment to addressing challenges head-on,” Shettima explained, noting that the Tinubu administration was dedicated to supporting all stakeholders in the skills ecosystem.

Pledging to address the lack of standardisation and regulation currently hindering the sector’s full potential, the Vice President said, “Central to this commitment is the recognition of the informal sector’s substantial contribution to our nation’s GDP. Our aim is to cultivate a skilled workforce capable of contributing to both national and international endeavors.”

Shettima also emphasised the importance of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) as the fourth pillar in the administration’s action plan.

Earlier in his presentation at the third meeting of the Council, the Minister of Education and first Vice Chairman of the body, Prof. Tahir Mamman, briefed the meeting on the activities of the Council and important issues of note, especially the proposed establishment of Skills Centres across the country and the planned National Policy on Vocational Skills Development, among others.

Also speaking, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Mr. Uche Nnaji and Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Mrs. Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, stressed the need for synergising efforts, ideas and resources in fast tracking skills training for artisans in the construction and related industry.

In his presentation to Council, the Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Prof. Idris Bugaje, highlighted the significance of the Nigerian Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF) Bill and noted other salient issues such as the harmonisation of skills development efforts in the country and exploring partnership arrangements to fund skills development in Nigeria.

He noted that stakeholders in the sector must begin to see skills development as low-hanging fruits for the government to attain its objectives of creating opportunities for many youths and diversifying the economy through industrialisation.

Also present at the meeting were the Ministers of Budget and Economic Planning, Sen. Abubakar Bagudu; Women Affairs, Mrs. Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye; representative of Alhaji Aliko Dangote who is the second Vice Chairman of the Council; the Director General of the Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN), Abdullahi Mustapha; Chairman of the Committee of Sector Skills Council, and representatives of the British Council and Embassy of Morocco.

Skills Acquisition: Senate Passes NYSC Trust Fund Bill to Empower Corps Members

Meanwhile, a bill which seeks to establish the NYSC Trust Fund was passed on the floor of the Senate yesterday.

It was sponsored by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, who is representing Ekiti South Senatorial District, Senator Yemi Adaramodu.

The bill, among others, seeks to provide a sustainable source of funds for the NYSC, skill acquisition, training and empowerment of Corps members, training and retraining of the personnel of the scheme, development of camps and NYSC formations and facilities.

Adaramodu, while presenting lead debate on the proposed legislation, declared that it would help make graduates acquire skills under the Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) Programmes.

He noted that the NYSC Trust Fund bill if passed into law, would ensure the development of Corps members and improve their welfare and personnel of NYSC.

He said, “The early years of the National Youth Service Corps which was established May 1973, that’s 51 years ago.

“This is going to be the first attempt at making sure that the Act that established the National Youth Service Corps is dealt with to ensure and afford Nigerians to benefit from why the NYSC was established.

“The management of the scheme has not only trained and empowered corps members but has instilled patriotism and the spirit of nationalism in corps members since then.

“The decision to establish the National Youth Service Trust Fund was conceived by some of the stakeholders which includes the 36 state governments and the FCT administration.

“The idea to establish the trust fund was also strongly supported by civil society organisations.”

Speaking with journalists after plenary on the strategic importance of the bill, the Senate spokesperson, expressed the hope that if signed into law, the NYSC Trust Fund would not be subjected to abuse like the other existing social interventions programmes.

“The structure of the Fund does not give room for that kind of sleaze so to say. It can never give room for it because there is strata and apart from having that strata, there is going to be checks and balances.

“Not only that, this is a scheme for young adults of Nigerians and in fact, part of the young adults will be represented on the Board of Trustees that will be formed when it comes into practice.

“So definitely, it’s not going to be, then the structure of the NYSC as it is now there is little changes only for trustees’ members and then even procurement.

“Procurement is not going to be solely done by even the DG. So, is not going to be something that several others will be part of.

“Then all the states of the federation will be part of and then all the strata of our governance will be part of – governors, local governments, CSOs will be part of.”