The National Council on Skills (NCS) has been inaugurated by the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, as part of the Muhammadu Buhari-!ed administration’s efforts to further bridge skills gap and boost the employability of Nigerian youth. The inauguration took place on Thursday at the Presidential villa in Abuja.
The NCS which has the Minister of Youth and Sports Development Mr. Sunday Dare as member, has as part of its responsibilities and objectives, to formulate skills development policy, while laying out plans and strategies for skills development in the country.
The Council which is the highest decision making body on skills development in Nigeria, is also charged with the responsibility of conducting regular skills surveys to identify skills gap in the country so as to ensure demand based trainings are carried out. It is also to fast track the institutionalization of the National Skills Qualification Framework in Nigeria.
The council has Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, as first Deputy Chairman, while Chairman of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote is second Deputy Chairman. Other members include: Ministers of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Labour and Employment, Science and Technology, Industry Trade and Investment, Communications and Digital Economy, Works and Housing and Women Affairs.
Governors who are members of the council include Governors of Delta, Ondo, Anambra and Kogi States respectively.
The membership of the council also includes the representatives of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), National Universities Commission (NUC), UK Department For International Development (DFID), National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), while the Director, Technology and Science Education in the Federal Ministry of Education, is the secretary.
