Vice President Kashim Shettima has commended Gov. UBA Sani of Kaduna State for pioneering the establishment of Nigeria’s first State Council on Skills.
Shettima described the initiative as a groundbreaking move in Nigeria’s drive towards a skilled and future-ready workforce.
The vice-president made the commendation on Tuesday in Abuja at the 7th meeting of the National Council on Skills (NCS), held at the Presidential Villa.
He urged other state governments to emulate Kaduna’s example by prioritizing skills development as a key strategy for job creation and human capital development.
“The era of operating in silos is over. We must embed collaboration into curriculum development and funding.
“This is about the artisan in Kaura Namoda, the mid-career worker in Ebute-Metta, and the technical colleges that must become true centers of excellence,” Shettima said.
He said the Tinubu administration was committed to a national skills revolution, describing it as central to the Renewed Hope Agenda and a critical pillar of its development blueprint.
Shettima commended Kaduna State’s efforts, including the recent admission of over 30,000 students into the Kaduna Vocational and Skills Development Institute, which he said reflects a strong commitment to empowering citizens with relevant skills.
Also speaking, the Minister of State for Education, Dr Yusuf Sununu, lauded the Kaduna State Government for its role in facilitating the recent inauguration of the Institute of Vocational Training and Skills Development by Tinubu.
He said efforts were ongoing to reposition technical colleges across the country to focus exclusively on relevant vocational and technical courses.
The vice-president called on the members of the NCS to support a unified national framework for skills development, warning that disjointed efforts would undermine the country’s goals.
“We cannot build a future-ready workforce on a foundation of division,” he said.
The NCS is a multi-sectoral body established to coordinate and promote skills development across federal, state, and private sector institutions in Nigeria.
