By Dada Jackson
The Ogun State Commissioner for Education, Science Android Technology, Prof Abayomi Arigbabu, has charged stakeholders to collaborate with government by investing more in technical education in order to pave way for job creation, poverty alleviation and sustainable economic development.
He stated this at the 3rd Session of the 15th Synod, tagged ‘I have chosen you and appointed you to go and bear fruit’, which was held in Ijebu Ode.
Arigbabu, represented by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Technical Education, Prof. Joseph Odemuyiwa, emphasised the importance of technical education on the society at large, noting that acquisition of vocational skills would help in promoting economic growth of the nation and guarrantee security of the society.
He said that the present administration had made the development of technical colleges a priority as plans had been put in place to train and empower 5,000 artisans, as well as employ 200 industrial councilors and business development personnel to train the students.
He added that regular skill-upgrading training had been embarked upon by the state government.
The commissioner also said that government would provide transformers to different communities across the state in order to ensure stable power supply to encourage artisans to be fully engaged in their trades, noting that irregular power supply had been a major challenge facing artisans in this part of the world.
The President of the SYNOD, Right Rev. Dr. Peter Oludipe, while appreciating the special adviser, implored the government to sensitise politicians to empower youths in skills and vocational training rather than distributing motorcycles and trycycles to them.
This, he said, would enable youths to be self-reliant, thereby reducing unemployment and crime rate.