The Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, has said the establishment of the Kaduna State Institute of Vocational Training and Skills Development will help end Nigeria’s reliance on skilled labour imported from West African and Asian countries.

Alausa spoke on Thursday at the maiden graduation ceremony of 5,050 trainees at the Balarabe Musa campus of the institute in Rigachikun, Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

Represented by the Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Prof Idris Bugaje, the minister said industries should look inward and recruit graduates of the institute rather than sourcing skilled workers from abroad.

Bugaje lamented that Nigeria still imports skilled manpower, including welders, scaffolders, integrity testers and other construction workers, from ECOWAS and Asian countries.

He commended Governor Uba Sani for establishing what he described as a skills development hub and said industries would have no justification for recruiting skilled workers from outside the country when qualified Nigerians were being trained locally.

Bugaje also commended Sani for approving the use of the institute’s training manuals across the country, following a request by the Minister of Education.

He disclosed that the institute had developed 14 training manuals at different levels across 14 trade areas, adding that the manuals had received approval for national use and were now being adopted across Nigeria.

“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,” Bugaje said.

He further disclosed that the institute had been accredited by the NBTE and equipped with what he described as some of the best facilities for skills training in the country.

Bugaje commended President Bola Tinubu for what he described as his commitment to youth empowerment under the Renewed Hope Agenda, saying the Kaduna initiative represented another milestone in that direction.

He congratulated the 5,050 graduates, noting that the NBTE had conferred on them the title of Uba Sani Skills Ambassadors (USSA).