…sponsors 3000 youths across Nigeria for programme
By Tom Okpe
Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep Benjamin Okezie Kalu has again, pulled two Bill’s in the House that will enhance National Apprenticeship Scheme.
The bills are ultimately contemplated to give a legal framework to the idea of creating more skills and employment for the teeming unskilled, youthful population.
This bill, and another, to allow for more national languages outside English as Nigeria’s ‘Lingua Franca’ are in the works and may soon come up, in the House of Representatives for debate.
Kalu mulled these noble ideas, while meeting with the management team of Bildup Integrated Services, (Bildup Africa) led by its Chief Executive Officer, (CEO) Chibuike Aguene during a courtesy visit over the weekend, in Abuja.
National Apprenticeship Scheme is a technology driven dual apprenticeship model designed by Bildup, to blend theoretical education with hands-on practical training.
Kalu who bemoaned Nigeria’s huge population of unskilled youth, said the apprenticeship system currently practised mostly in South East as, “Igba-Boi” where someone undergoes a training in a particular craft or vocation for an agreed number of years and later gets settled by his employer will be institutionalized, through a legislative intervention.
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He further stressed that the idea was in line with the Renewed ‘Hope Agenda’ of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who is committed to creating more employment opportunities for the citizens, especially the youth.
Commending the acquisition of academic certificates, the Deputy Speaker said: “This is not enough, without a commensurate skill.
“Countries like Germany and China with less emphasis on certificates, have impacted the world with more practicable skills.
“The piece of technological initiative by the Bildup Integrated Services to encourage the apprenticeship system and boost skills acquisition efforts are being made to make the three major languages of Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba official, to encourage the apprenticeship system.
“By these means, many youths will be able to communicate better in their mother tongues when learning a skill than using English as the nation’s lone official language.”
While commending the technology, Kalu pledged his support to the initiative, assuring the sponsorship of 3000 youth across the federation in the first phase of the apprenticeship system to be championed by Bildup Integrated Services in various areas of skills acquisition.
He said: “I would like to express my gratitude for your contributions to skills training, apprenticeship, and entrepreneurship development in Nigeria and the African continent as a whole.
“Your commitment to skills development and entrepreneurship aligns with our nation’s aspirations for economic growth, job creation, and empowerment of our youth.
“I applaud your organization for working on this timely and nationally important National Apprenticeship Scheme.
“At the 10th House of Representatives, we anchor our legislative activities
on the core principle of participatory governance.
“We are laser-focused on
delivering a regulatory environment that only supports entrepreneurship
development, also, encourages commerce and facilitates the growth of the economy.
“It is in this vein that I acknowledge the calls for supporting legislation that institutionalizes the newly designed National Apprenticeship Scheme.
“Our legislative process is open to constructive dialogue, and we welcome
your insights and recommendations.
“Together, let us work towards a bill that bridges the huge skills gap, replete across the country while being the
igniting point for an industrial revolution that Nigeria so dearly needs.”
Earlier in his presentation, the CEO of Bildup, Aguene requested the support of the Deputy Speaker in projecting a legislative framework that will institutionalize a dual apprenticeship system in Nigeria.
“An institutionalized dual apprenticeship system will act as a conduit, offering a real-world application of the skills acquired through theoretical education.
“It serves as the vital bridge that transforms academic knowledge into practical expertise, ensuring individuals, not only grasp theoretical concepts but also, gain hands-on experience relevant to the demands of their chosen fields,” he said.
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