Building better vocational centres

The need for the establishment and proper running of vocational centres across the country cannot be overemphasised. Every serious country has a major responsibility to harness the strength of its growing population.

Nigeria has an urgent task to ensure that it does same particularly in the area of building vocational centres to improve the relevance and opportunities of its teeming youth population. Quite frankly, the urgency of addressing this situation should not be handled with kid gloves. Countries like China and Japan have shown clear leadership in this regard. It would be stating the obvious that Nigeria’s youth population takes a major chunk of her overall population. This percentage should be looked at with something meaningful done about it.

Building thriving vocational institutes will remarkably reduce the crime rate presently bedeviling the progress of the nation. Unemployment has been a cause for concern for a long while. The indices are worrying and creating employment opportunities will go a long way in addressing the problem. Nigeria’s rising population can be utilised in fostering its goals of building a virile nation and making it a destination of choice for foreign investors. The few vocational schools in many states across the country are not in the best of shape. Many, if not all of them, are in a state of disrepair. While it is commendable to build more universities, it is important to raise the bar in vocational training.

In the last two decades, there has been a rise in the establishment of private universities in various parts of the country. Private individuals and organisations should also invest by building private vocational institutions thereby fostering the drive towards putting Nigeria in the comity of nations where technology guarantees development.

Jude Moradeyo, Lagos