The federal government has indicated an interest in partnering with MOA Professional Institute, a City & Guilds of London Institute Accreditation Centre, to promote skills acquisition among Nigerians, tackle unemployment, and boost the economy.
MOA Professional Institute provides technical, vocational, and professional training services. It offers an array of industry-relevant courses designed to equip individuals and employees with the knowledge and practical skills necessary to succeed in their chosen fields and job roles.
The director general of the National Board for Technology Incubation (NBTI), Kazeem Kolawole Raji, gave this indication at the unveiling of the institute’s Centre in Abuja.
Represented by NBTI director of commercial Kalu Awa Kalu, Raji said the board will collaborate with the institute, particularly in the area of entrepreneur certification and commended MOA for its mission and vision.
He said, “Most entrepreneurs are into serious areas of vocation, but before then, I want to sincerely salute the person who started this. You know, entrepreneurship is not about buying and selling. Therefore, I want to tell you that we will partner with you in the certification of most entrepreneurs.
“Like I said before, we have clusters (incubation) scattered across the country. We have one in Nasarawa, and one is coming up now in Abuja. So, we are going to partner with you, there are so many things we will do together.”
Also speaking, the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs, Dr Onwusoro Ihemelandu, said the ministry would work with the institute to train its staff in skills acquisition, especially for retiring staff.
Represented by the director of human resources management, Dr Henrietta Okafor, the permanent secretary, lauded the institute’s initiative and acknowledged that skills are very important in Nigerians’ daily lives.
“Apart from the normal staff training we usually provide, we will try to introduce this kind of skills acquisition programme for some officers who retire, too: pre-retirement training.
“You know, during that time, some of the people are confused, they don’t know what to do, but when you get them involved in this kind of training, they get something to take it out at the end of the day and continue with it,” the permanent secretary said.
For his part, the institute’s managing director/CEO, Engr Olajire Adeleke, said that with the Abuja Centre, MOA would soon expand to the entire north to ensure the region is accorded the opportunity to acquire skills for self-employment and economic prosperity.
“It is the best time to use Abuja to reach out to other parts of the country. At the end of the programme, all the northern part of the country and beyond will get everything we are benefiting in the south-west. Regarding the City and Guilds of London, we have many candidates outside the country. We have many of them, even in Peugeot in Kaduna here, and many in oil and gas.
“We discovered that in the northern part of the country, it is high time we had this kind of training centre that would be useful for the indigenous people. That is the main reason we are here, and as we are starting here from this Abuja centre, we have the goal of reaching out to the northern states in Nigeria,” he noted.
