The Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the President on Educational Intervention, Fela Bank-Olemoh says 2,000 people in Kaduna State will be equipped with technical and vocational skills through the Federal Government Project T-MAX.
Bank-Olemoh said this when he paid a courtesy visit to the Acting Governor of Kaduna State on Tuesday at the Government House.
According to him, Kaduna and six other states were selected to pilot the programme targeted at 15,000 beneficiaries in Nigeria.
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He said Gombe, Lagos, Ogun, Edo, Enugu, Kaduna, and Nasarawa were the seven states selected for the pilot programme.
The SSA said the 15,000 Nigerians would be equipped with vocational skills in the next three months during the programme.
Bank-Olemoh said that by 2023, the programme would be scaled up to one million Nigerians using the facilities that exist within the ecosystem.
He said the gesture was part of the Federal Government’s commitment to empowering Nigerians with skills.
“Things are tough; the best thing to give Nigerians is skills and starter packs. Students that did well in their final test after the training will be given starter packs,” he said.
The SSA explained that Project T-MAX is a Technical and Vocational Education and Training Programme approved by the National Steering Committee on National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy (NPRGS).
He said it was aimed at achieving the Federal Government’s goal of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty with NPRGS as one of the core poverty interventions by 2030.
In her remark, Dr Hadiza Balarabe, Acting Governor of Kaduna State, commended the programme which she said aligned with the state government’s human capital development initiative, especially in skills and talent development.
Balarabe, represented by the Commissioner for Business Innovation and Technology, Prof. Kabir Mato, said the state government would work with Project T-Max and ITF for the success of the project in the state.
She said the state government believes in partnership and collaborations in delivering its governance agenda.
The acting governor described the programme as laudable and timely, especially for Kaduna State as one of the states in the pilot phase of the project that would run from August to December.
“It is our hope that the programme will run seamlessly with a hitch-free implementation across the nation and in particular, Kaduna state,” she said.
Balarabe assured government of continued commitment through the provision of enabling environment for the smooth implementation of the programme in the state. (NAN)
