THE immediate past Vice Chancellor of University of Port Harcourt, Professor Joseph Ajienka, has criticized the neglect of technical education in Nigeria, which has created a wider skills gap in the oil and gas industry.
According to him, there is a common but wrong perception that this form of education is inferior to tertiary education.
Speaking at the Oil and Gas Trainers Association of Nigeria (OGTAN) maiden conference and exhibition in Lagos, he said the belief that technical education is for secondary school dropouts and children from the low-income class is misplaced.
The VC who was represented by the Director, Emerald Energy Institute, UNIPORT, Professor Omowumi Iledare noted that the importance of technical education would provide skilled manpower needed for industrial and technological development adding that it is an important key to national development, perhaps very complementary to energy.
