Seventy-two youths from Kano State have received training on auto mechanics, auto mechatronics, auto panel beating and welding and auto spray painting at the Peugeot Automobile Nigerian (PAN) Training Centre in a bid to bridge the skills and manpower development gap in the state.

The trainees who have undergone an eight month course at the center, have also been trained on Information Communication Technology (ICT), Defensive Driving skills and entrepreneurship skills to ensure that they are well equipped for the labour market.

Speaking at the centre, the Governor of Kano state, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje said the genesis of bringing the youths to PAN Training Ccenter is to bridge the huge gap in skills and manpower development in the state.

He added “One, there are many empowerment programmes, but empowerment programmes formed are just political, just to gather people for three, four days and give them something small and then after one month, things are back the way they used to without any means of sustainability, so in order to avoid falling into that trap, the Kano State government decided to undertake an investigative survey of skills available in the state.

“We have discovered that there is a big gap in terms of skills and manpower development in Kano State, we also discovered that there are some peculiar skills that citizens of the other parts of the country have taken over, you will discover that one can hardly find a mechanic on Sundays which is not conform with our culture in Kano state, so in order to fill the gap, we decide to take those skills and get our own youth who will learn the skills and go back to the state as that is the surest way of sustainability

“Secondly, if the state is dominated by youth from other parts of the federation, hence, all the wealth gotten from Kano is repatriated to their respective states because, there will be investments and those investments will be done in their respective states, so when we have our own as well, it means, whatever wealth they create, they are creating wealth that will remain in Kano and will help the economic development of the state.”

He noted that Kano state must look inwards to improve its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) and improve the quality of youth in terms of service delivery so that they can be self reliable employers of labour and tax payers.

He added that Kano State government will create another programme for women with a view to carrying the woman along saying, “Inside Kano city, by the front of the house an inscription reads ‘Ba Shiga’ meaning, no entry for men, but when there is a problem in the house, men come into the house, but what is wrong with our young ladies to train as engineers to show Nigeria that women engineers have come of age.”

He disclosed that the Kano state government is building an ultra modern skills acquisition centre where 24 skills will be taught adding that they will partner with Kaduna in aspects that relate to automobile after completing the center, we shall purchase the necessary equipment.

The Managing Director of PAN, Mr. Ibrahim Boyi said “One of the biggest challenges we face as a nation is youth unemployment, with the growing population, any government that has taken it as a primary role to boast and grow youth unemployment deserves commendation.

“What Kano State has done, we hope, will be an example for many other states to key into especially in the Northern parts of the country because without skills and education, it is almost impossible to empower the youth because, the most veritable solution to youth empowerment is education and skills.”

•Photo by Garba Ahmed shows Kano Governor Umar Ganduje in a group photograph with the trainees at PAN, Kaduna.

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