Give priority to vocational, technical education - Govt urged

“Do not let us have a lot of people on the streets simply because they do not have access to Senior High Schools,” Professor Bani said.

He indicated that vocational and technical education had made so many countries great due to the huge investment and the importance they attached to that area.

He added that with government focusing on that sector, the importation of goods brought into the country could be limited.

Professor Bani again advised the public to stop the misconception surrounding vocational and technical education that they were programmes for school dropouts.

In a speech read on his behalf, the Minister for the Interior, Mr W. K. Aboah, congratulated the graduates for having successfully learnt skills that would ensure a meaningful standard of life for themselves.

“It is refreshing that eventually the combatants have laid down their arms and have learnt some trade,” he noted.

Mr Aboah, therefore, advised the graduates not to allow challenges to divert them from their decision to stay the course of peace.

He again advised that they should not be tempted to go back but rather be peace ambassadors to convince the few who might harbour such desires to avoid that option.

The minister added that Nigeria was a democratic country where the differences should be resolved through peaceful means.

He noted that the path they had chosen was not all that rosy but it was the best option available and that everyone had some space to be part of the process of nation building.

The Special Advisor to the Nigerian President on the Niger Delta Affairs, Mr Kingsley Kuku, for his part, expressed his gratitude to the government for its support.

He urged graduates to make good use of the experience they had gained during the training and also promised to assist them to start their own businesses.

“As you are graduating do not think of looking out for government work but rather, think of how you are going to utilise the experienced gained to the benefit of oneself,” he said.

He also promised to pay a two year rent for all those who wanted to start up their own businesses.

Story by Gloria Bamfo