Fayemi urges youths to embrace technical education

GOVERNOR Kayode Fayemi of Ekito State has appealed to unemployed Nigerian youths to harness technical and vocational education in order to reduce the high rate of unemployment.

Fayemi who lamented the level of unemployment and the consequent spate of social vices in the country said acquisition of employable skills would take many unemployed graduates from the unemployment pool.

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He spoke at the opening ceremony of the ‘Innovative and Change of Perception’ lecture organised for the students and staff of government technical colleges held at the Government Technical College, Ado-Ekiti on Tuesday.

He stressed the need for a paradigm shift from the erroneous perception that skill acquisition is meant for the academically weak people, noting that technical education remains a potent weapon of improving socio-economic development.

The governor restated the commitment of his administration towards repositioning and restoring the lost glory of technical and vocational education in the state, and that efforts are in the top gear to commence the second phase of the project that will face-lift other four technical colleges in the state.

“As a government that values education, it is our vision and mission to have Ekiti State where our people can thrive and live in dignity.

“We don’t want our youths to be roaming the street looking for white collar jobs. Graduate unemployment has increased just because most of them do not have any employable skills that can make them self-sustain.

“It is imperative for unemployed youths to appropriately harness and embrace this form of education to curb high rate of unemployment and the consequent societal ills,” he said.

Professor Sam Adejuyigbe of the Federal University of Oye-Ekiti, who spoke on: ‘Education: Innovation and Change of Perception’, said acquisition of technical education is a way of bridging the unemployment gap as well as addressing skills deficit in the country.

He said the era had gone when vocational education was believed to be undertaken by school drop-outs and pushovers with the level of global technological advancements.

He identified skills acquisition as a panacea to youth restiveness and all forms of social vices, urging the youths to explore the opportunities to create wealth and become employer of labour.

Speaking earlier, chairman, Ekiti State Board for Technical and Vocational Education, Honourable Kayode Babade, commended the Governor Fayemi’s administration for transforming the fortune of technical education in the state.

He said students of the college would now be able to compete with their counterparts globally with the state-of-the-art equipment in the college.

He, however, implored parents, guardians and traditional rulers to partner with the government in mobilising unemployed youth in the state to imbibe skill acquisition by attending technical school and vocational centres.