The Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, has said that the importation of skilled labour from West African and Asian countries must come to an end with the establishment of Kaduna State Institute of Vocational Training and Skills Development.

Dr Alausa gave the directive during the maiden graduation ceremony of 5,050 trainees at the Balarabe Musa campus of the Institute, located at Rigachukun in the Igabi local government area on Thursday.

Represented by the executive secretary of the National Board for Technical Education(NBTE), Prof Idris Bugaje, the minister argued that ‘’industries should come to Kaduna and recruit the graduates of this Vocation Training Institute.’’

Prof Bugaje lamented the current situation where ‘’Nigerian is still importing skilled manpower; welders, scaffolders, integrity testers, construction skilled workers, from across ECOWAS and Asian countries.’’

While commending Governor Uba Sani ‘’for creating this hub of skilled manpower in Nigeria,’’ Bugaje argued that industries have no excuse to recruit skilled manpower from outside the country.

Bugaje thanked Governor Uba Sani “for approving the use of the training manual of this institute across Nigeria”, recalling that the minister wrote to the governor for permission, which he graciously granted.

‘’This Institute developed 14 different training manuals at different levels in the 14 trade areas. The Minister of Education wrote to the Governor for permission to use those training manuals across Nigeria, and His Excellency gave the approval. They are now National Documents being used across Nigeria,’’ he added.

Bugaje disclosed that the institute was accredited by NBTE and it has the best equipment across the country, adding that ‘’not even the Dangote Skills Acquisition Centre in Kano comes close.’’

The executive secretary of NBTE commended “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who came with the Renewed Hope Agenda, which is meant to empower young Nigerians. So, this is another propellant to this milestone achievement.’’

Bugaje congratulated the graduates whom he said NBTE has conferred with the title of Uba Sani Skills Ambassadors (USSA).

He implored them to ‘’mobilise young people, bring them out of their distress, encourage them to come and register with this Skills Training Institute, so that their hopes can be renewed.’’