For thousands of young Nigerians who just completed vocational training, the job search may now start at home.
On Thursday, the Kaduna State Institute of Vocational Training and Skills Development graduated 5,050 trainees at its Balarabe Musa campus, marking the institute’s first convocation. The Federal Government had one clear message for industry: stop looking abroad.
Speaking at the ceremony, Minister of Education Tunji Alausa urged Nigerian companies to recruit directly from the institute instead of importing welders, scaffolders and construction workers from West Africa and Asia.
“Industries should come to Kaduna and recruit the graduates of this vocational training institute,” Alausa said. He was represented by Idris Bugaje, Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education, NBTE.
The minister described the continued reliance on foreign skilled labour as “unacceptable,” noting that local institutions are now producing job-ready talent.
Alausa said the Kaduna institute had set a new standard. It created 14 training manuals covering 14 trade areas. Those manuals, he added, have now been approved for use nationwide.
“This institute developed 14 different training manuals at different levels in the 14 trade areas. The Minister of Education wrote to the Governor for permission to use those training manuals across Nigeria, and His Excellency gave the approval. They are now National Documents being used across Nigeria,” he said.
The NBTE has also fully accredited the institute, which officials say now has facilities matching some of the best skills centres in the country.
For the graduates, the day came with both a certificate and a new title. The NBTE conferred on them the designation of Uba Sani Skills Ambassadors (USSA).
The minister challenged them to become recruiters themselves.
“Mobilise young people, bring them out of their distress, encourage them to come and register with this Skills Training Institute, so that their hopes can be renewed,” he told the crowd.
The push comes as Nigerian industries continue to complain of a skills gap, even as youth unemployment remains high. With government backing and nationalised training content, Kaduna’s model is now being positioned as a template for closing that gap without importing labour.
