Executive Director, Wing Commander Abdullahi Ibrahim Vocational and Skills Acquisition Institute, Dr Daniel Asele, said the centre trained about 400 youths in various skills.

Mr Asele made the disclosure in an interview with journalists in Lafia on Tuesday.

According to Mr Asele, the youth trained in 2022, were already having a positive impact on the state.

“These youths are already making waves by contributing to the growth of the Nasarawa State economy and putting into practice what they learnt from the institute,” he said.

He said that the institute had about 40 different, contemporary, marketable and relevant skill areas of training; hence, it had the capacity to enrol, train and graduate as many as 400 youths from 2022.

“We have graduated two sets of trainees since the commencement of the institute on August 1, 2022, and the skills we train them on are relevant in the 21st century. Most importantly, we make them self-reliant. There is no local government area across the state where you will not see a business centre or outfit that is owned by a beneficiary of this institute,” he said.

Mr Asele said that the institute was able to achieve much due to support from former Governor Abdullahi Sule, who, he said, established the institute because of the importance of skills in modern times.

“Skill is just like the currency of the 21st century, and the governor is aware of that. He has given us the desired support to achieve our set goals. Recently, he gave out N200,000 to each of the 40 best trainees in the previous programmes for starter packs,” he said.

He said that the institute was planning to collaborate with agencies such as the National Board for Technical Education and the Industrial Training Fund to boost operations.

Mr Asele listed the eight departments of the institute to include electrical/electronic, mechanical, construction and information and communication technology.

He listed the others as culinary, textile and fashion craft, cosmetology and general studies.

“Some of the skill areas include domestic wiring and installation, refrigeration and air conditioning, welding and fabrication, iron bending, concreting, tiling, carpentry, programming and web design, and computer networking.

“We also have confectionaries, baking and pastries, local and continental cuisine, leather works, tailoring and fashion design, knitting, beauty care, soap making, barbing, hairdressing, and entrepreneurship development, among others,” he said.

(NAN)