Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo says investment in vocational education is fundamental to job creation and industrialisation of the state as well as the country as oil revenue continues to dwindle.
Obaseki said this on Tuesday when he received donations made by the Nigerian Employers Consultative Association (NECA) in collaboration with the Industrial Training Funds (ITF), at Government Science Technical College, Benin.
He commended the organisations for the donating electrical equipment and tools to the technical college.
According to him, no country can grow industrially with `paper certificate’ alone; it must have technical skills to make the needed difference.
The governor noted that most industrialised countries had in their workforces, people with vocational training who might not be university graduates.
He said that plans were underway to set up three or five megawatts of power on the Government Science Technical College premises for its light industrial park to ensure constant electricity supply.
The governor gave the assurance that the donated items would be judiciously utilised.
Earlier, the Director-General of NECA, Mr Olusegun Oshinowo, thanked the state government for emphasising improvement in vocational and technical education.
Oshinowo said that the biggest challenge facing Nigeria was that of unemployment due to lack of technical skills to make youths employable.
He urged that all hands should be on deck to tackle the challenge.
The Principal of the college, Mrs Bose Imafidon, said that the benefitting electrical department was one of 10 departments with highest enrolment.
Imafidon pledged to use the equipment for the intended purpose.
The News Agency og Nigerian (NAN) reports that the other equipment and tools included desktop monitors, contact voltage regulators, prismatic fluorescent fittings and bundles of cables