…Minister apologises for ignoring six letters, says 1.4m Nigerians applied for second enrolment
…link trainees to jobs, business opportunities 
By Gloria Ikibah
The House of Representatives Committee on Federal Polytechnics and Higher Technical Education has called for stronger collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Education to improve oversight of the Federal Government’s Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programme, which currently has more than 250,000 trainees nationwide.
The committee made the call on Tuesday during a meeting with the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, in Abuja, where the minister disclosed that the programme was operating in about 1,200 training centres across the country.
The meeting followed months of unanswered correspondence from the ministry, prompting the committee to summon the minister in July and issue a final summons in August over its failure to provide requested information on the programme.
Chairman of the committee, Rep. Fuad Kayode Laguda, who represents Surulere I Federal Constituency of Lagos State, said lawmakers had written six letters between January 2025 and July 2026 seeking updates on the implementation, activities and progress of the initiative, but received no response.
Laguda said the committee had also invited the ministry to a meeting in July, but neither the minister nor any representative attended, raising concerns about the ministry’s cooperation with the legislature in the discharge of its oversight responsibilities.
“We wrote six different correspondences on the same subject matter, requesting status reports on TVET’s activities and programmes. We did not get any response from your ministry,” he said.
At Tuesday’s meeting, however, Alausa apologised to the lawmakers, explaining that he had not personally received the correspondence.
“I would have to profusely apologise and let you know that I did not get any of the correspondence that you sent,” the minister said.
He attributed the communication breakdown to the transfer of a desk officer responsible for receiving correspondence from the National Assembly and said he had directed his team to investigate why the letters were not answered.
The minister acknowledged the legislature’s constitutional responsibility to scrutinise executive programmes and assured the committee of improved communication and cooperation.
Following an executive session with the minister and ministry officials, Laguda described the engagement as productive, saying the committee was satisfied with the explanations provided.
“Our meeting was progressive and purposeful. We are satisfied and, like I said, we will be moving forward and having better engagements,” he said.
The chairman emphasised that the committee needed comprehensive information about the programme to assess its implementation, identify challenges and ensure that public funds were being used effectively.
“Information is power. Having more knowledge about what is going on will aid us in carrying out our expected duties and having oversight functions,” Laguda said.
He said the committee intended to examine the entire TVET value chain, including funding, the selection and monitoring of training centres, the quality of instruction and the employment prospects of beneficiaries.
Speaking with journalists after the meeting, Alausa said the administration of President Bola Tinubu had repositioned technical and vocational education as a key part of Nigeria’s education system and its strategy to tackle unemployment and shortages of skilled workers.
“Before this president came in, technical and vocational education was almost totally dissipated in our country. But I can tell you, in a short three years, we’ve brought that back,” he said.
The minister disclosed that more than 250,000 Nigerians were currently receiving training at approximately 1,200 skills acquisition centres nationwide under the TVET initiative.
He said each trainee received a monthly stipend of ₦30,000, while participating training centres received ₦50,000 per student monthly to support practical, industry-relevant training.
According to him, the funding arrangement was designed to help centres engage qualified instructors, acquire modern equipment and upgrade their facilities to meet the demands of contemporary technical and vocational education.
Alausa said the ministry had also reduced the number of trades covered by the programme from nearly 60 to about 22 priority areas, including fashion design, solar photovoltaic installation, electrical installation and plumbing.
He disclosed that the programme had attracted significant interest, with about 1.3 million applications recorded during the first enrolment exercise and nearly 1.4 million during the second.
He said the government had been forced to limit admissions because the number of applicants exceeded available funding and the capacity of participating training centres.
Beyond training, Alausa said the ministry was working to ensure that beneficiaries could turn their newly acquired skills into employment and sustainable livelihoods.
He disclosed that a job portal had been developed to enable trainees to upload their résumés and connect with employers seeking workers with relevant technical competencies.
The ministry was also collaborating with the Bank of Industry to support beneficiaries interested in establishing their own businesses.
“We don’t just want them to be job seekers. We want them to be micro-entrepreneurs and do business themselves,” the minister said.
On access to technical education, Alausa said the Federal Government had made technical education free in all federal technical colleges and one selected state technical college in each state.
He explained that the government was covering tuition and other school fees under the arrangement to reduce financial barriers and encourage more young Nigerians to pursue technical and vocational training.
The minister further disclosed that the ministry was strengthening the capacity of teachers and lecturers through partnerships with institutions in Singapore.
The initiative, he said, included training instructors in technical colleges and lecturers in polytechnics to improve teaching standards, practical instruction and the overall quality of technical education.
Alausa said the government was working towards a private sector-led TVET system in which businesses would play a greater role in skills development and employment, while the public sector would provide funding, regulation and an enabling environment.
The committee’s engagement comes amid efforts to strengthen accountability in the implementation of the programme, which is intended to equip Nigerians with industry-relevant skills, expand employment opportunities, promote entrepreneurship and bridge the gap between technical education and labour market demands.
The lawmakers are expected to sustain their engagement with the ministry to obtain further details on the programme’s implementation and assess its impact on trainees and the wider economy.
