Nasarawa Transformative Journey Through Skills Acquisition

The late Aliyu Akwe Doma Banquet Hall located in Government House, Lafia, Nasarawa State is no doubt used to hosting the creme de la creme of the state and beyond.

However, the assembly at the February 14, 2024, defied what has long become the norm. They were made up of children, youngmen and girls within the ages of 10 to 18, cladded in overalls, trousers and tops as well as other clothings. They were also other set of guests who are older than the first but also in uniforms structured and in colours peculiar to their discipline and institutions.

The usual flowing agbada and corporate suits normally symptomatic of such occasions were few in between. However, the event, aimed at mentoring the youths in the state on the importance and use of technology and skills acquisition in a fast changing world, is hardly an agbada affairs. And the youths drawn from across technology and vocational institutions across the state, turned out in their large numbers.

Governor Abdullahi Sule who was earlier in Abuja had to cut short his official engagement in the country’s capital to grace the tagged Engineer A. A Sule Colloquium with the  theme, “Technical-Driven Entrepreneurship as a Panacea for Unemployment and Catalyst for Economic Growth & Development”.

It was a moment of soul-searching for a population which viewed skills as demeaning endeavours and instead opted for certficates in a country wherewhite collar jobs are hardly available.

As the guest speaker, a celebrated car designer and  former Director General of National Automotive Design and Development Council, Engineer Jelani Aliyu, held the audience spellbound on his journey which began in a small community in his home state of Sokoto to becoming a renowed work class designer through institutions which recongnised skills as a driving force in a new world order, it gradually downed on everyone present at the event that the period of paradigm shifts has come.

Mr. Aliyu said his becoming a renowed car designer started like dream, poiting out that any youth can achieve the same feat by focusing on progressive opportunities and solutions.

“It all starts in the mind. If you can imagine it and clearly see it in your mind, then you are halfway there. You can easily strategies, jump into action and bring it into reality. Nothing is impossible,” he stated.

He said technology has become the bedrock of development worldwide, noting that all great nations of the world leverage technology to advance its people.

“Why technology? Why now? Why us? Technology is coming up with solutions that make your lives better. Cell phones, electric cars, AI. The bottom line is technology makes our lives easier.  Why now and why us. Now, because this is the focus of all. Every great nation is leveraging technology to advance its people. Why us? Because we are special. Africa is the land of the pyramids of Egypt where thousands of years ago super structures couple of feet talk were built. We have the Edo Empire in Nigeria. We all are special people with great heritage. We must not let ourselves to be left behind.

“We must understand that relevant technology and unleash it to our people and advance their lives. We must not ever be afraid of advanced technology.  We can never allow ourselves to be defined by our problem,” he said.

Also, a renowed engineer of international repute, Governor Sule equally shared his experiences which started as a student in Plateau State and as a young undergraduate struggling to survive in a United States school with the audience.

He explained how his skills kept him in the university several kilometers from his home country when the scholarship that brought him to the institution stopped flowing.

He said he had to sought for a night job as a certified welder with the skills acquired at the Government Technical College Bukuru to support his education at the Virginia State University when the scholarship they were enjoying then stopped coming.

.“Then, I worked as a welder at night and attended school in the day in the U. S. just to complete my scholarship money.

“Being a certified weilder that I was, and still am, I got a job with Alkowa Energy. I got the work, and then I can work as both weilder and iron bender at night and to be able to pay for my hostel. I was making $3.75 an hour. The more hours you work, the more you get paid. That was a lot of money at the time,” he explained.

Governor Sule said his vision for a skill-based knowledge for youths in the state is driven by his experience, noting that corporations achieve their goals with skilled workers, not certifications.

Governor Sule said the idea behind organising the colloquium was to afford youths in the state the opportunity to listen to successful individuals with a view to learning from their experiences, as well as to encourage them to acquire skills.

He noted that with the emergence of industries in the state, it is the vision of his administration to groom and train the citizens especially youths towards meeting both internal and external demands of certified technicians.

“The idea is to train and groom sufficient technicians to fill industrial needs, especially with the coming of companies such as SaroAfrica, Avarta, Jualin Mining Company and others.  Our vision is to establish an institution that industries would track.  That is what I want to bring to Nasarawa State,” he stated.

And he did laid the foundation to achieving this dream through the establishment of Wing Commander Abdullahi Vocational and Technoligh Institute, the setting up of faculty of engineering with the state-of-the-art laboratories of the state university, Keff in Gudi, and upgrading of relevant departments at the state-owned polytechnic in Lafia.

The vocational institute which boasts of about 40 occupational areas, was in September 2024 adjudged as the best in the country by the regulatory body, the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE). It has trained hundreds of both youths and adults who are living the dream across the state and country.