Seven Technical Skills Providers (TSPs) have graduated beneficiaries of the Federal Ministry of Education’s Industrial Training Fund/Technical and Vocational Education and Training (IDEAS-TVET) programme in Abuja, with stakeholders emphasising the importance of practical skills in tackling unemployment and expanding entrepreneurship opportunities.
The graduation ceremony, held at the International Trade and Convention Centre, KM 8, Umaru Yar’Adua Expressway, Abuja, brought together representatives of the Federal Ministry of Education, IDEAS-TVET project officials, the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), participating training providers, beneficiaries and other stakeholders in the technical and vocational education sector.
The programme was designed to provide beneficiaries with practical and industry-relevant competencies that could improve their employability, support entrepreneurship and enable them to establish sustainable sources of income.
The seven Technical Skills Providers involved in the training were the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) Business Entrepreneurship Skills and Technology (BEST) Centre; Onidiri Home of Beauty; Gemological Institute of Nigeria; iLearn Learning Spaces; Germnig Consultants Ltd.; Dari Investments Ltd.; and Binley and Bramble, in partnership with School Hunters.
Speaking at the ceremony, the 1st Deputy President of ACCI and Founder of the BEST Centre, Prof. Adesoji Adesugba, described the programme as an important investment in human capital development, particularly at a time when practical competencies are increasingly required to participate effectively in the economy.
Adesugba said technical and vocational education had an important role to play in preparing young Nigerians for the realities of the labour market by equipping them with skills that could be converted into employment, business and income-generating opportunities.
He urged the graduates not to view the training and certification as an end in themselves, but as a foundation for further development and economic participation.
According to him, the beneficiaries could use the competencies acquired to establish businesses, seek employment or develop enterprises capable of creating additional jobs and opportunities for other Nigerians.
He also encouraged the graduates to continue improving their skills and adapting to changing market demands, stressing the need for practical knowledge to translate into measurable economic outcomes.
Representing the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), the External Quality Assurance Manager, Mr Junna Lawrence Gabriel, said the beneficiaries would undergo assessment based on the practical competencies they acquired during the training as part of the certification process.
Gabriel stressed that technical and vocational education should not be reduced to the possession of certificates, noting that the real value of such programmes lies in the ability of beneficiaries to demonstrate and apply their skills in practical situations.
He said trainees must be capable of deploying their competencies effectively in workplaces and enterprise environments, adding that competency-based assessment remained essential to maintaining standards in technical education.
Also speaking, the Deputy Director-General of ACCI BEST Centre, Dr Tinuke Temitope, said the seven Technical Skills Providers worked collaboratively to implement the programme across different areas of vocational and technical training.
Temitope said the partnership was aimed at ensuring that beneficiaries were exposed to practical competencies capable of positioning them for employment, entrepreneurship and income generation.
She noted that the collaboration among the training providers demonstrated the importance of partnerships among government institutions, private-sector organisations and technical training providers in strengthening Nigeria’s skills-development ecosystem.
The graduates, in their remarks, expressed appreciation to the Federal Ministry of Education, FME-IDEAS and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for providing them with the opportunity to acquire practical and marketable skills.
One of the beneficiaries described the training as more than an academic exercise, saying it had provided participants with tools they could deploy to improve their economic prospects.
“You have not just taught us how to make this. You have given us the tools to build our own future,” the trainee said.
The statement reflected the broader objective of the programme, which is to bridge the gap between theoretical learning and practical competencies while creating pathways for beneficiaries to participate more actively in the labour market and entrepreneurial activities.
In her concluding remarks, Hajiya Hauwa Usman commended the organisers, Technical Skills Providers and other partners for their collaboration in delivering the training programme.
Usman urged the graduates to put the skills acquired to productive use, encouraging them to explore opportunities in employment and entrepreneurship while contributing to the development of their communities.
She said the success of skills-development programmes should ultimately be measured by how effectively beneficiaries deploy their knowledge and competencies after training.
