The Rector, Federal Polytechnic, Ayede, Oyo State, Engr. Dr. Taofeek Adekunle Abdul- Hameed has charged government at all levels to put more intervention to entrepreneurship development in the country in order to drastically reduce unemployment rate in Nigeria.
Dr. Abdul- Hammed gave the charge on Monday at the National Workshop on the Reviewed Entrepreneurship and Skills Development Curricula for Entrepreneurship Educators in Nigerian Polytechnic and Similar Institutions in the country. The workshop with the theme: ‘New Approach to Entrepreneurship Curricula Delivery’ was organized by National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), and held at the Federal Cooperative College, Eleyele, Ibadan.
According to him, essence of the workshop was to look into ways to encourage participants on the need to promote entrepreneurship development scheme in the Nigerian Institutions, “The programme is very important and key to build our nation economically at this crucial time because if you look at what is going on in the country, you will know that there is high rate of unemployment in the country. And for us to come out of this quagmire we find ourselves, there is the need for all our students, public servant and the people generally to acquire entrepreneurial skills”.
“There is the need for everyone to be entrepreneur in other to employ others, it is the only way out of the economy problems facing the country. When you go to advance climes, all is not about getting government job, it is about being creative and innovative and acquiring necessary skills that will propel the nation to greater heights. That is what we need and that is what the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) in conjunction with Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) are doing for those of us in Technical education”.
“Presently, virtually all the institutions at the University and Polytechnic levels are trying to find a way of engaging their students in entrepreneurial activities, which is the way out. It is not about paper qualifications, there are so many paper qualifications today like Bsc, HND, MSc, PHD and others. Of what benefits are these qualifications to our economy without skill acquisition? We are not disabusing the minds of the people from acquiring certificate but it is not all about the certificate alone, but skill acquisition which is the way out for Nigeria.”
The Rector while commending government on its efforts to take the nation to higher levels through various commitment noted that Nigeria still has a long way to go in achieving a virile economy. According to him, “the country can still be at per with advance nations if we are well committed to skill acquisition, adding that more intervention and close monitoring from government should a barometer to know how far the nation has gone in terms of skill acquisition and economic development”.
Contributing to the issue, the Acting Director of Centre for Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (CSAED), Federal Polytechnic Ayede, Oyo State, Mr. Oluwaseun Owojori said the training is long overdue, saying, “we appreciate that the development is coming up when the Polytechnic has just commence academic activities”. “We want to carry everybody along and want full involvement of our students in the skills acquisition and entrepreneurship development activities.”
He said “whatever they learned from the workshop would be taking home to improve on NBTE-TETFund initiated programme called National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF). National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF) is going to be a framework whereby three (3) skills which are Garment Making, Electrical Installation, Hospitality and Catering. The three skills has been picked to train the students for nine months in order to impart entrepreneurial skills into them in order to help them contribute to the economy of the country by creating jobs, wealth and values.
Meanwhile, in his Keynote address at the Workshop, the Executive Secretary, National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Professor Idris M. Bugaje who was ably represented by Town Planner Garba Isa, acknowledged the importance of the workshop to building a virile economy for the nation.
According to him, “the Workshop is Train-the-Trainer programme, adding that entrepreneurship is the key to the nation’s development. “Many nations with natural resources like Nigeria are now super economic nations through entrepreneurship development. Our economy in the future rest on quality entrepreneurship, and our Workshop will focus on this serious issue.
