
THE Federal Government has stated that it will mobilize and deploy skilled and vocational artisans for infrastructural development of the country.
Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, who stated this while playing host to the Association of Skilled and Vocational Artisans of Nigeria (ASVAN) in his office in Abuja, said they are very critical to infrastructural revolution, sweeping the country such as rail and road construction and other massive projects being embarked upon by the Federal Government.
He promised to support the association to realize its goals of ensuring the execution of growth and support projects for the empowerment of skills and vocational artisans.
Dr Onu, therefore, called on the association to collaborate with the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (NBBRI), an agency under the ministry for training and capacity building that would give its members certification and also enhance their skills to get the job, sources of a live hood and fight poverty in the country.
Earlier, the president of the association, Comrade Everest Obijuru said that the aims of the association were in line with the current government’s policy on self-reliance which focused on members’ development and empowerment through skills acquisition, training modern equipment handling and techniques.
He then called for the provision of projects fund to equip their target clientele with entrepreneurship sensitization to enable functional vocational and entrepreneurship skills for its members.