By Linda Ene Ajaka
The Executive Secretary of National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Professor Idris Muhammad Bugaje, has been appointed by the federal government as Chairman of the committee to ensure resuscitation and modernisation of laboratories in the country’s Polytechnics.
Inaugurating the committee, tuesday, in his office, Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, said Professor Bugaje’s task will include federal and state polytechnics in different states across the federation.
Alausa revealed that the initiative was aimed at phasing out obsolete equipment in Nigerian polytechnics.
The Minister said the second phase of the Skills-G intervention, supported by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), will also introduce industrial-grade engineering facilities and strengthen hands-on technical training across 37 federal and state polytechnics.
He said the reform will also ensure dual certification for polytechnic graduates, combining National Diploma (ND) or Higher National Diploma (HND) with recognised National Skills Qualification (NSQ) certificates.
Dr Alausa said the committee would supervise ongoing skills development interventions in 14 polytechnics, recommend institutions for the third phase in 2026 and monitor the upgrade of engineering workshops in selected institutions.
He stressed the importance of accountability and transparency in the utilisation of intervention funds, noting that some institutions previously procured unusable equipment now kept in storage, saying quarterly reports would be submitted to the Federal Ministry of Education and TETFund, while non-compliant institutions could face sanctions.
He said: “The programme will provide equipment for mechatronics, robotics, renewable energy systems, advanced telecommunications, electronics and automobile engineering.
“The key objective of this intervention is the modernisation of our laboratories, phasing out obsolete equipment in Nigeria polytechnics and replacing them with industrial grade engineering equipment.
“The first phase was done in the year 2011 to 2012. This is the second phase and we have 37 polytechnics that will benefit. Unlike the previous TETFUND intervention that focused on building, the Skill-G intervention will focus on the polytechnic laboratory ecosystem.”
Speaking earlier, Chairman of the Committee, Prof. Idris Bugaje, said the committee will revive delayed Skill-G implementation, apart from ensuring proper execution of the 2025 skills intervention and screen polytechnics for the 2026 phase.
He said that the upgrade of engineering workshops would help Nigeria align with global engineering standards under international accords, even as he commended Alausa for his support for technical education, despite belonging to the medical field.
On his part, the Executive Secretary of TETFund, Architect Sonny Echono, said the Fund will continue to fund the interventions, revealing that Skills-G is an Israeli-Nigeria partnership that amounted to 18 billion naira contract.
He said that earlier delays were linked to the ongoing contract and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s disposition to local-contents.
However, he assured the committee in particular and education stakeholders in general of TETFund’s continued collaboration to improve technical and engineering education in the country.
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