By Muhammad Sani Usman
I hope this letter finds you in good health. I want to express my sincere gratitude for your consistent advocacy stressing the significance of skills over degrees.
Your dedication to highlighting practical skills as crucial assets in today’s dynamic world resonates deeply with many, myself included.
While you are one of my favorite Islamic scholars, I’d like to bring to your attention some noteworthy and concerning aspects regarding this advocacy:
As a prominent minister under former President Muhammad Buhari, having risen through the ranks from NITDA, addressing the dilapidated state of Nigerian universities should have been a focus. Reforming the system to incorporate skills in every profession would have been invaluable.
Considering the fourth industrial revolution, your emphasis on ICT skills is commendable. However, collaboration with the Senate committee for Education and NUC during your tenure could have established mandatory digital laboratories and ensured graduates are equipped with essential skills before leaving university.
Sir, It’s disheartening to observe many IT and computer science graduates lacking basic coding and programming abilities due to a flawed educational system. While you aren’t the Minister of Education, a more vocal advocacy for change would have been impactful.
Most importantly, recognizing the importance of industrial-scale skills like Project Management and other hard skills is essential. This will ensure that people from the North benefit from the economy of scale and are not marginalized in organizations.
While NITDA introduced boot camps to train youths in ICT skills during your tenure, the exclusive focus on Abuja limited accessibility for the broader population down the North.
Sir, the introduction of blockchain and the recent three million digital skills initiative by your predecessor, Kashif, suggested limited inclusion to these valuable skills. There’s a need to practicality train our people beyond introduction and give the capital at the very end.
Thank you for your time and consideration Sir.
Muhammad Sani Usman, is a graduate of Industrial chemistry from Kaduna state. Can be reached via muhdusman1999@gmail.com.