Ace Broadcaster and the Group Controller, Current and Public Affairs, TVC Communications Limited, Babajide Kolade-Otitoju, has decried the undervaluing of practical skills in Nigeria as against the country?s growing youth population and persistent skills gap.

He made this known at a public lecture, themed: ?Technical Education and National Development: The Place of AI, Its Credibility, Trust, and Transparency.?

The lecture was held at Yaba College of Technology, Yusuf Grillo Auditorium in honour of Dr. Omobayo Taofeek Raheem, immediate past Director of the Centre for Information, Communication and Public Relations (CICPR) and former Deputy Rector of the college.

Kolade-Otitoju in the paper delivered by his representative and Managing Editor and Chief Executive Officer of Premium Eagle Media LImited, publishers of The Eagle Online and owner of The Eagle Online Nigeria YouTube channel, Dotun Oladipo, challenged the national obsession with certificates over capabilities.

According to him: ?In Nigeria, practical skills are undervalued.

?We must begin to shift from paper qualifications to practical competencies.

?Technical education offers a viable alternative, equipping youths with the hands-on expertise the economy desperately needs.?

Kolade-Otitoju underscored how internships, industry partnerships, and applied learning can close the unemployment gap while igniting innovation in sectors ranging from engineering to digital media.

He also called on President Bola Tinubu to see to the implementation of the bill abolishing the dichotomy between Higher National Diploma and university degrees, urging increased funding for polytechnics nationwide.

Delivering the welcome address, the Rector, Yaba College of Technology, Dr. Ibraheem Abdul, described the lecture as both a tribute and a strategic forum.

Engr. Abdul said: ?We are gathered to celebrate a man of repute and, at the same time, reflect on a subject that is of immense importance to national development.

?The future of education, especially technical education, is inseparably linked to technology and, most notably, artificial intelligence.?

The Rector said that beyond policy and pedagogy, the event served to honour Dr. Raheem for his years of service to the college and his leadership of CICPR.

He said: ?This event is a reaffirmation of our commitment to excellence as Dr. Raheem leaves a legacy of principled leadership and unwavering dedication.?

He described him as a mentor, visionary, and bridge-builder, whose tenure strengthened the institution?s communication strategy and academic visibility.

The Chairman of the lecture and Rector, Federal Polytechnic, IIaro, Dr. Mukail Akinde, argued that technical education must evolve to include emerging technologies.

Akinde said: ?Artificial Intelligence has become one of the most revolutionary forces in modern development and its integration into technical education enhances training quality and prepares students for high-demand roles in automation, data science, and robotics.?

He stressed that the ethical deployment of AI must be rooted in credibility, trust, and transparency, but however cautioned against the unchecked spread of AI tools lacking the values.

He called for interdisciplinary collaboration among developers, educators, and policymakers and elaborated on real-world use cases from intelligent tutoring systems and AI-powered coding assistants to virtual labs and automated assessment tools demonstrating AI?s power to personalise learning and boost student performance in technical fields.

He warned that without ethical safeguards, the technology could deepen inequalities or propagate bias and ?is not whether we use AI but how responsibly we do so?.

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