The Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, has stated that Nigeria has for long failed to accord technical and vocational education the required attention, leading to near extinction of technicians who constitute a critical mass of the technological workforce of any nation.
The Governor stated this at the maiden graduation ceremony of the Master Craftsman Project, an initiative of the State government geared towards ameliorating the dearth of skilled technicians of Nigerian origin in the build industry.
Represented by the Commissioner for Wealth Creation & Employment, Mr. Babatunde Durosinmi-Etti, the Governor said that the unsavory situation in which services of artisans such as carpenters, steel fabricators, plumbers, electricians, painters, and tilers are being sourced outside our borders as a result of wide skill, ethical and professional gaps will be redressed by this initiative.
He stated that the State government will empower each certified Master Craftsman with the tools of their trade and work-gears while their names and area of specialty will be uploaded on-line to a database of registered Master Craftsmen that can be easily accessed by members of the public who may require their services.
While congratulating the graduands, Governor Ambode challenged them to continually improve on the knowledge acquired bearing in mind the age long saying that the largest room in life is the room for improvement.
Earlier, the Commissioner for Housing, Prince Gbolahan Lawal stated that the initiative, which commenced eight months ago, was intended to create a platform through which 4,000 artisans and workers in the industry would receive certificates after being trained to acquire 21st Century skills.
Lawal revealed that graduands were trained for six weeks by highly certified trainers from NIOB (Nigeria Institute of Building), CORBON (Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria) and LASTVEB (Lagos State Technical and Vocational Education Board) based on the National Vocational Qualification Framework (NVQF).”
The Commissioner informed that the State government placed great emphasis on the training because out of the 200 that registered in the first batch, only 170 are graduating today for participating actively in all classroom activities and hands-on practical while they also met the 60% attendance criteria required for graduation.
He also revealed that Ecostone Management Corporation is at an advanced stage of a Public Private Partnership with the State government on affordable and accessible housing for low and medium income earners.
The Ecosotone Management team, led by Mr. Emmanuel Stefaualis, was present at the ceremony and expressed willingness to engage the participants in training on the latest technology in the industry.
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