The National Council on Skills (NCS) has praised Governor Uba Sani for launching the Kaduna State Council on Skills, calling it a model for sub-national skills development. In a letter, Vice President Kashim Shettima commended Sani for personally chairing the council, stating it aligns with the Renewed Hope Agenda and sets a benchmark for other states. The Kaduna council is part of a broader strategy to tackle unemployment through institutionalised vocational training. Shettima described the initiative as a key example of the "Bottom-Up" approach to skills acquisition, critical for extending technical education to grassroots communities.
Three state-of-the-art Kaduna State Institutes of Vocational Training and Skills Development (KIVTSD) have been established in Soba, Rigachikun and Samarun Kataf. These centres are expected to train 12,000 artisans annually in fields such as welding, aluminium fabrication, fashion design and solar panel installation. Graduates will receive certified qualifications through a partnership with the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE). The state government also plans to transform Panteka Market, home to about 38,000 artisans, into an industrial hub for trades including masonry, carpentry and metalwork.
Governor Uba Sani is not just building skills centres—he is reshaping Kaduna's economic architecture by embedding vocational training into governance, a rare move in a landscape where such initiatives often remain rhetorical. By chairing the State Council on Skills himself, Sani signals that workforce development is not a peripheral agenda but central to his administration's vision, a detail not lost on the Vice President's office.
This push gains significance in a country where youth unemployment stands at 23.1 percent and technical education has long been underfunded. The establishment of three KIVTSD hubs across all senatorial zones ensures geographic equity, while the NBTE partnership adds credibility to certifications—addressing a long-standing barrier to employment and entrepreneurship. The planned overhaul of Panteka Market further ties informal sector growth to formal skill systems, creating a pipeline from training to livelihood.
For ordinary Nigerians, especially young people and informal artisans in Kaduna, this means tangible access to structured training, recognised credentials and potential income growth. If replicated with fidelity, this model could shift how states approach job creation beyond token empowerment schemes.
Sani's approach fits a growing trend where state governors assume policy leadership in areas traditionally dominated by federal inertia, particularly in education and economic innovation.
