NASENI’s Skill Acquisition Programme: A Massive Job Creation Scheme Nationwide

When the Vice President Kashim Shettima, flagged-off a nationwide community empowerment programme in science, technology, skills acquisition and renewable energy for youth and women in Kano State on Saturday, June 27, 2026, the Nigerian industrial ecosystem was triggered to a new dimension in job creation nationwide.

The commencement of the programme on Saturday championed by the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) will see over 160 participants trained in solar installation and maintenance, mobile phone hardware repairs, electrical appliances and electronics repairs and maintenance across the six geopolitical zones of the country.

It was indeed a positive policy paradigm, which coincided with the reputation of Kano as a historic commercial and entrepreneurial hub in Nigeria making it an ideal location for such interventions, and primed to help channel the state’s rich entrepreneurial spirit into modern, technology-driven enterprises.

Represented by the Personal Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Subnational Infrastructure, Office of the Vice President, Musaddiq Mustapha Adamu, Vice President commended NASENI for implementing one of the key priority areas of the Renewed Hope Agenda of the President Bola Tinubu government, which focuses on job creation and equipping Nigerians with entrepreneurial skills.

“Today, NASENI is opening one of those doors. And I want you—every young person in this room—to walk through it with everything you have. To the young men and women here today, learn and apply what you’ve learnt. The government is not doing you a favour. It is making an investment in you because it believes the return is worth it. Do not prove that belief wrong”, he said.

He described Nigerian  youths as “the engine room of the nation,” stressing that empowering them with practical skills remains central to the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a major step that reflects the Federal Government’s commitment to creating opportunities that equip young Nigerians with skills for productive livelihoods.

Contributing, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, represented by the Director, General Services Office, Dr. Ibrahim Abdulkadir, said the programmes are designed to promote innovations for human capital development, engender inclusive economic growth leveraging technology driven intervention, equip women and youth with relevant skills, and to expand entrepreneurship opportunities through digital learning.

Senator Akume, who reemphasized the Federal Government’s commitment to job creation and skills acquisition, commended NASENI for this laudable initiative and promised to give all the necessary support for any programme designed to advance Nigerian youths through innovations and entrepreneurship, for a knowledge driven economy.

He then charged the participants to use the potential benefits of this skill acquisition training programme to improve their lives, reduce redundancy and ultimately improve their standard of living and become more disciplined and committed.

NASENI has been at the forefront of the drive to industrialise Nigeria through innovation, science, technology and investment in human capital development and it is on this premise that Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of NASENI, Mr. Khalil Suleiman Halilu, said the Agency’s investment in Kano is deliberate, describing the state as one of Nigeria’s foremost centres of commerce, manufacturing, innovation and enterprise.

According to him, NASENI’s interventions in Kano go beyond infrastructure development to building the skilled workforce required to sustain industrial growth.  The Agency in the last couple of years has been expanding investments  in the state, including the Sustainable Emerging Technologies Institute (SETI), the Agricultural Incubation Centre, the Coal-Based and Liquid Fertilizer Project, the Transformer Manufacturing Plant, the High Voltage Test Laboratory, renewable energy initiatives and community empowerment programmes.

“These investments need skilled hands. When these facilities expand, we want the technicians, solar installers, fabricators, innovators and entrepreneurs to come from Kano communities. That is how we build lasting prosperity,” Halilu said.

Through this profound vision backed by tremendous implementation, the   programme will provide practical training in renewable energy, welding and fabrication, mobile phone hardware repairs, food processing and packaging, alongside the distribution of laptops and STEM innovation kits to selected schools to encourage early interest in science and technology.

NASENI under Halilu has declared that its programme is anchored on three strategic pillars of Creation, Collaboration and Commercialization (3Cs). It has strengthened the capacity for industrialization by sustained investment in people with practical skills capable of creating jobs, building businesses and commercializing innovation.

The NASENI boss assured that the Agency will also support schools with laptops and STEM innovation kits because innovation starts early. “We must encourage our children to become creators of technology, not just consumers of it. “To our beneficiaries, I have a simple message. Take this opportunity seriously; the future belongs to people with skills. The knowledge you gain here can create businesses, support families, employ others, and contribute to Nigeria’s industrial growth,” Halilu added.

The NASENI Community Empowerment Initiative is nationwide and it is as diverse as it is durable in unlocking the potential of the Nigerian women and youth to become the best in global competitive indices.  In Kano, it will equip beneficiaries with practical, market-relevant skills in renewable energy, engineering, digital technology and entrepreneurship, reinforcing the Agency’s commitment to supporting Nigeria’s industrialization agenda through human capital development.

Under Khalil’s leadership in NASENI the agency appears to have an enduring energy and genuine seriousness to escalate Nigeria’s quest for industrialization and engaging the youth just like what is obtainable in countries such as China, Singapore and Germany. This remains the center-piece of the federal government policy drive that might go a long way in reducing unemployment, which is about 40 per cent in Nigeria and make the country competitive globally.

It is hoped that the combined efforts of Kano State Government and NASENI will sustain the programme and ensure that the youth utilize this opportunity granted by the Federal Government for considering the State among the pilot states of this program by encouraging the teeming youths to participate in the scheme to better their lots.

There is no doubt that in the realm of emerging technologies this programme is critical for the nation’s future progress, and Nigeria has a unique opportunity to adopt and adapt technological innovations and skills acquisition, to drive productivity in the industrial sector, education and health for robust economic growth.

Kano State Governor, Abba Ibrahim, represented by the Hon. Commissioner for Finance, Dr. Yusuf Ismaila Danmaraya, gave his goodwill message while welcoming the programme implementation. In the same vein, Chairman, Nigerian Commodity Exchange, Alhaji Dalhatu Abubakar, expressed optimism that the programme will enhance productivity.

Also, the National Programme Manager, Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), Alhajji Hamza Ibrahim Baba; and Chairman, Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Hon. Sa’adatu Salisu Yusha’u; and Dr. Gwani Farouk Umar, Chairman, Arewa Consultative Forum, Kano State all believed that the programme will improve the economic fortunes of the state and the entire country.