Dangote recruits Lagos Technical graduates
Nigerian business mogul and entrepreneur, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, is recruiting about 100 graduates of the five Technical Colleges across Lagos State.
Speaking with journalists at the weekend during the recruitment screening by the Dangote Group conducted for the graduates at the Agidingbi Technical College,
the Executive Secretary of Lagos State Technical and Vocational Education Board (LASTVEB) in-charge of the technical colleges, Mrs. Omolara Erogbogbo, said the screening is for the graduates of the five technical colleges that are below 23 years for recruitment into Dangote employment.
She said it starts from the graduates going for the Young Technicians programme at Dangote Academy in Obajana, Kogi State for 18 months, which is an employability skills training before they can be taken into various employments in Dangote, adding that after the screening exercise those that are successful will face another panel.
She said the screening exercise is being done in six trades such as Electrical, Electronics, Automation, Welding and construction, adding that the training is free of charge.
The LASTVEB boss said 100 of them will be employed which covers Benue, Kano and Ogun states, saying some of the graduates are currently employed by Dangote.
Erogbogbo said this gesture of the business mogul will also encourage parents who believe that technical education is meant for push-overs and drop-outs, saying there is need for more advocacy on this because it has to do with the skills adding that parents should encourage their children to do technical education because it is the tool to drive the 21st century economy of Nigeria.
“Technical and vocational education is very critical to the development of our nation but there is need for more collaborations between the colleges and the industry because it is not theory but more of practical for the students to have more hands-on experience”, she said.
Director, Technical and Vocational Services in LASTVEB, Mr. Laolu Oguntuyi, said it was based on the maiden edition of the exercise in 2013 that encouraged the Dangote Group to organise the second edition.
He said the long break was as a result of the Group moving round the 36 States of the federation so that the focus will not be on the South-West zone alone, saying based on the last record, the second one is being conducted.
Oguntuyi said this has also served as a motivation for other students of the colleges to brace up as well as changing the perception of the parents that technical education is not just for failures but for people that are more competency based.
One of the graduates, who read Electrical at Government Technical College, Ikorodu, Udoh Uduak, said the recruitment exercise is a good gesture that will encourage more students into technical education,
adding that many of the students didn’t opt for technical colleges as a result of failure to go to higher institutions but because they need skills that will make them entrepreneurs and employers of labour in future.
Esther Taiwo
