From Femi Mustapha, in Kaduna
The Kaduna State Commissioner of Business Innovation and Technology, Mrs Patience Fakai, has stated that the 3 Skills Acquisition Cities initiated by the Senator Uba Sani-led administration will be ready for commissioning in the first quarter of 2025.
Mrs Fakai made this known to the press when she, alongside the Managing Director of the Kaduna State Roads Agency, Dr Abdullahi Ahmed Baba paid an inspection visit to the ongoing project site at Rigachikun, Igabi Local Government area of the state.
“We are here as a team, to look at the project here, which is the construction of the skills acquisition city, which you are well aware, His Excellency, Governor Uba Sani when he came on board decided to build three skills acquisition cities across the state, one in each of the three Senatorial zones, in the state. One in Rigachikun, Soba and Samaru Kataf.”
“This project has been ongoing. We are here to see and have an update, to see how far the construction work has been, and we have come here and have seen a lot of progress. The work is almost done. It is at about 85% level of completion. We hope by early next year, we should be ready to commission this project,” she said.
Fakai expressed satisfaction with the quality of the work done and reiterated that the “quality of the job is good and excellent.”
Speaking on the importance of the project, she said: “With this project, His Excellency wants to bridge the gap of skills. We have a skills gap in the state and we are trying to address that. In These Skills City, our youth will be provided with 13 different skills. In the next two years, we should be able to upscale over 4,000 youths in the state with these different skills we are trying to introduce.”
“Youth without skills would be given new skills, while some have skills, like the artisans in the Panteka market, but they don’t have certifications; I believe with these skills in cities, most of these artisans come and get the certifications with which they can get deployment within and outside the country,” the Commissioner added.
