Institute trains 400 youths in Nasarawa in various skills

Dr Daniel Asele, Executive Director, Wing Commander Abdullahi Ibrahim Vocational and Skills Acquisition Institute, says the institute has trained about 400 youths in various skills.

Asele made the disclosure in an interview with newsmen in Lafia on Tuesday.

According to Asele, the youths, who were trained from 2022 were already impacting positively on the state.

“These youths are already making waves by way of contributing to the growth of Nasarawa State economy, putting into practice what they learnt from the institute,” he said.

He said that the institute had about 40 different, contemporary, marketable and relevant skills areas of training; hence, the capacity to enroll, train and graduate as much as 400 youths from 2022.

“We have graduated two sets of trainees since the commencement of the institute on Aug. 1, 2022, and the stills we train them on, are relevant in the 21st Century.

“Most importantly, we make them self-reliant.

“There is no local government area across the state that you will not see a business centre or outfit that is owned by a beneficiary of this institute,” he said.

Asele said that the institute was able to achieve much due to support from the state Gov. Abdullahi Sule, who, he said, established the institute because of the importance of skills in modern times.

“Skill is just like the currency of the 21st Century, and the governor is aware of that. He has given us the desired support to achieve set goals.

“Recently, he gave out N200,000 to each of the 40 best trainees in the previous programmes, for starter packs,” he said.

He said that the institute was planning to collaborate with agencies such as the National Board for Technical Education and Industrial Training Fund to boost operations.

Asele listed the eight departments of the institute to include electrical/electronic, mechanical, construction and information and communication technology.

He listed the others as culinary, textile and fashion craft, cosmetology and general studies.

“Some of the skills areas include domestic wiring and installation, refrigeration and air conditioning, welding and fabrication, iron bending, concreting, tiling, carpentry, programming and web design, and computer networking.

“We also have confectionaries, baking and pastries, local and continental cuisine, leather works, tailoring and fashion design, knitting, beauty care, soap making, barbing, hairdressing, and entrepreneurship development, among others,” he said.