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From Ighomuaye Lucky, Benin City
A stalwart of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State, Amb. Aiyamenkhue Edokpolo, has commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his administration’s investment in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), describing the initiative as a critical component of the administration’s education reforms with far-reaching implications for employment, industrial development and the 2027 elections.
Edokpolo, who made the remarks in a statement made available to journalists in Benin City, said Nigeria had for decades placed disproportionate emphasis on university degrees, even as employers continued to struggle to find workers with the practical and technical skills required across various sectors of the economy.
He said the Tinubu administration’s renewed focus on TVET was helping to change the narrative by giving greater recognition to technical competence, employability, entrepreneurship and productivity, adding that a modern economy needed not only engineers, scientists and doctors but also electricians, welders, mechanics, technicians, artisans, ICT specialists and other skilled professionals.
The APC chieftain, who is also the National Facilitator of the United Patriots Assembly of Nigeria (UPAN), said President Tinubu’s description of polytechnics as the “engine room” of Nigeria’s technical workforce underscored the strategic importance of practical education to national development.
He noted that the Federal Government’s efforts to upgrade technical colleges, expand skills training and strengthen practical education, alongside the activities of the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) and investments by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), represented a broader attempt to make education a more effective instrument of human-capital development and economic growth.
Edokpolo, however, stressed that the success of the reforms would ultimately depend on effective implementation, noting that technical institutions required modern equipment, qualified instructors, reliable electricity, relevant curricula and stronger partnerships with industry to produce graduates whose skills matched the demands of the labour market.
He also called for a fundamental change in societal attitudes towards vocational education, urging Nigerians to abandon the perception that technical and vocational careers were inferior to university professions.
According to him, the country’s development challenge could not be solved by producing certificate holders alone, because what the economy urgently requires is a workforce capable of creating value, solving practical problems and driving industrial productivity.
“Nigeria does not merely need more educated people; it needs more skilled, productive and innovative people,” he said.
Edokpolo further argued that, as the 2027 elections approach, voters would increasingly assess government policies by their tangible impact on their lives, particularly the capacity of reforms to create jobs, strengthen industries and expand economic opportunities for young Nigerians.
He said that if properly implemented and sustained, the Tinubu administration’s skills-development agenda could help move Nigeria from a certificate-driven education culture towards a skills-driven economy, potentially emerging as one of the significant legacies of the administration.
