The chairman of Soba local government area in Kaduna State, Hon. Muhammad Lawal Shehu has advocated for a comprehensive education reform to integrate skills acquisition into the curriculum of basic and higher education to prepare students for the international labour market.
While receiving a delegation from the Soba and Maigana Development Association (SOMADA) at Dahiru Maigana Secretariat, the chairman revealed that youth’s overdependence on white-collar jobs necessitates adjusting the syllabus to produce productive youth who can add value to the economy.
He vowed to utilise all available resources to facilitate the establishment of an institution of higher learning in Soba to aid school enrollment and bridge the rural-urban gap in higher education.
Highlighting the importance of self-dependency among young people, Hon Lawal said the wealthiest individuals built their fortunes through entrepreneurship.
“If you look at Nigeria, the wealthiest person is Alhaji Aliko Dangote, who made his fortune through a conglomerate of businesses.
It is unfortunate that if you are looking for artisans in some professions, you have to travel elsewhere to hire them. This is why His Excellency Senator Uba Sani approved the establishment of skills acquisition centres in three senatorial zones of Kaduna State, where Soba is one of the benefitting local governments. We want to build on this effort of His Excellency to ensure our youth are productive,” the chairman remarked.
He urged the leaders of SOMADA to mentor students on career choices while securing admission to higher institutions, especially in selecting professional courses that will equip students with skills for the labour market upon graduation.
Earlier, the leader of SOMADA, Mallam Aliyu Adamu, stated that they were at Soba Secretariat to congratulate the chairman on his office assumption and brief him on the association’s activities across the council.
He said the absence of higher institutions of learning has been one of the major problems affecting the youth when they complete secondary school education and wish to further their studies.
Mallam Adamu informed the chairman that the association has written to the vice chancellor of Kaduna State University to consider establishing a centre of higher learning in the local government.
