Don Seeks Repositioning Of Tech Education For Dev

A Professor of Industrial Technical Education (Mechanical Technology Option) at Ignatius Ajuru University of Education (IAUE), Rivers State, Professor John Ajike Uduma Uka, has called for the repositioning of Technical Education as a central pillar of national development.
Speaking on Thursday, at the University Auditorium, while delivering the 87th Inaugural Lecture titled, “Surgical Analysis of the Ills of Nigeria’s Technical Education Sector: Towards a Healing Process”, the Inaugural Lecturer noted that revitalizing Nigeria’s Technical Education system is not merely an educational priority but a national imperative.
He stated that a well-functioning Technical Education sector has the potential to bridge the skills gap, reduce unemployment, stimulate industrial growth and enhance the country’s global competitiveness.
Professor Uka emphasized that the healing process for Nigeria’s Technical Education sector requires coordinated reforms by the Federal Government, State Governments, educational institutions, industries, regulatory agencies, development partners and communities.
He explained that the sector stands at a critical crossroads, with its current state reflecting deep-seated structural inefficiencies and long-standing systemic neglect.
Despite its strategic importance in driving industrialization, employment generation and technological advancement, the sector continues to underperform due to a combination of policy inconsistency, inadequate funding, weak industry linkages and persistent negative societal perceptions.
The 87th Inaugural Lecturer said the challenges facing Technical Education in Nigeria are not isolated but deeply interconnected.
“As such, addressing them requires more than superficial interventions; it demands a holistic and sustained reform approach”, he said.
According to him, strengthening institutional capacity, modernizing curricula, enhancing industry collaboration and improving regulatory effectiveness through the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) are essential steps towards restoring the credibility and functionality of the sector.
He highlighted the importance of shifting societal attitudes and recognising Technical Education as a viable and valuable pathway to economic empowerment, noting that without such reorientation, even the most well-designed policies may fail to achieve their intended impact.
He recommended, among others, increased and sustained funding for technical education, upgrading of technical facilities and learning environments, strengthening industry-institution collaboration, modernization of the TVET curriculum, promotion of competency-based assessment, strengthening of the NBTE, promotion of entrepreneurship and self-reliance, and improvement of students’ perception of technical education.
Uka also recommended strengthening quality assurance and institutional accountability, expansion of digital transformation, enhancement of research, innovation and technology development, addressing regional and gender disparities, and strengthening policy implementation.
He stressed that if these recommendations are implemented with political will, adequate funding, stakeholder collaboration and rigorous monitoring, technical education can become a powerful engine room for industrialization, employment creation, technological innovation, poverty reduction and sustainable national development.
He concluded that a healthy technical education system is indispensable to building the skilled workforce required for Nigeria to compete effectively in the 21st-century global economy.
Declaring the event open, the Acting Vice-Chancellor of IAUE, Professor Okechuku Onuchuku, who was represented by the Dean, Faculty of Vocational and Technical Education and Head, Ndele Campus, Professor Isaac Ogundu, lauded the 87th Inaugural Lecturer, who he described as a seasoned scholar, for exposing the ills of technical education.
He appealed to the Rivers State Government to establish a Ministry of Vocational and Technical Education to give TVET a wider range and reach.
On his part, the Registrar of IAUE, Professor Chinonye Abraham Ajie, expressed appreciation to the 87th Inaugural Lecturer for holding the audience spellbound with his presentation and expressed hope that the essence of the lecture would be internalized by all.
In a vote of thanks, Professor TamunodienyeNkechiMba expressed gratitude to all who found time to grace the occasion.