SKILLS ACQUISITION REMAINS A POTENT WEAPON AGAINST POVERTY AND UNEMPLOYMENT IN THIS CHALLENGING TIMES........Engr. Smart Ikem.

By Vincent Ikem.

The first Executive Member in the Delta State Technical and Vocational Education Board, Engr. Smart Ikem has ones again re-emphasized the place of Technical and Vocational education in nation building and the urgent need for skills acquisition if the war against poverty must be won especially in this period of recession. He made the call while presenting a papar titled "The Need for Skill Acquisition (Technical and Vocational Education)" at the Holy Trinity Chapel, Bishop's Court today in Agbor.

In his words, getting a practical knowledge and understanding of how things are done through skills acquisition, no doubt is a short-cut out of poverty and unemployment arising from the fact that our certificates today can no longer fetch the required white collar jobs that we so desire.

Speaking at the well attended event, Engr. Smart Ikem said the need for skills acquisition in such a challenging nation as ours today cannot not be over-emphasized nor oversaid as it will create self reliance by way of practice and income generation with a positive long term turn-around effect that will make those who embrace it not only to be self employed but employers of labour themselves.

According to him, His Excellency, the governor of Delta state, Senator Dr. Arthur Ifeanyi Okowa is leaving nothing to chance nor any stone unturned in this regards in his resolve to making sure that unemployment in the state is reduced to its barest minimum.

The governor has repeatedly said and I quote " Unless urgent steps are taken to reverse the trend where graduates of Nigerian Universities will rely solely on government jobs to make ends meet, Nigeria will continue to witness high level of unemployment". Therefore, we must realize that spaces for government jobs are getting full and implying that taking up skills remain the way out of unemployment, poverty and total dependence on government to provide jobs.

Speaking further, he said taking a walk through our Technical Schools and Vocational Centres before the advent of the present administration in the state, one will experience nothing other than the rot in the sector with failed and dilapidated structural works that are not habitable nor good for learning but today, governor Okowa in his irrevocability and resoluteness to advancing the course of Deltans has revamped, overhauled, rebuilt and equiped three Techical Colleges in Agbor, Sapele and Ofagbe for ease of skills acquisition.

He urged Deltans to develop the right mentality by diversifying and readdressing their mindset that Skills Acquisition is not for the less privileged nor school drop outs but a basic nexessity for all. He said Deltans need to think out of the box by not only seeing white collar jobs as the only means to make ends meet.

The Bishop of the Ika Diocese, Rt. Revd Peter Onekpe and other leaders of the church expressed great joy at Engr. Smart's well articulated papar presentation and commended the state government's insight and foresight to rejuvenate the almost-dead Technical education in the state. He implored all and sundry to embrace the idea as indeed, it will take Deltans, especially the youths out of the streets and crime and make them self-employed and self reliant.