KEY POINTS

• About 3,000 Borno trainees graduated from nine Vocational Enterprise Institutes and Centres across the state.
• Each graduate received a starter pack and a N100,000 entrepreneurship grant to support their entry into economic activity.
• The federal government’s nationwide TVET programme has enrolled more than 180,000 youths, targeting 250,000 training opportunities in total.

The federal government has praised Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum after about 3,000 trainees graduated from nine Vocational Enterprise Institutes and Centres scattered across the state, each walking away with a starter pack and a N100,000 entrepreneurship grant.

The commendation came Sunday in a statement signed by Folasade Boriowo, director of press and public relations at the Federal Ministry of Education. Minister of Education Maruf Tunji Alausa said Zulum’s initiative represents exactly the kind of state-level action the federal government wants replicated nationwide.

“This initiative by Governor Zulum is a major step toward empowering young Nigerians with practical and employable skills,” Alausa said.

Borno’s model and the national picture

The N100,000 grants bridge the gap between the training hall and the open market, giving graduates enough capital to purchase tools, register businesses, or secure basic working materials before employer demand kicks in.

The programme’s structure leans heavily on hands-on learning, with graduates spending 80 percent of their training time on practical work and only 20 percent in classroom instruction.

Borno’s effort fits into a larger federal architecture. The federal government is running a nationwide Technical and Vocational Education and Training programme with a target of 250,000 training slots for young Nigerians. Centres across the country have already enrolled more than 180,000 youths.

What’s still being built

Alausa also disclosed that the Federal Ministry of Education is developing a national TVET job portal to connect skilled graduates directly with industry openings and give artisans access to starter packs and affordable loans once they complete training.

The minister framed the entire skills drive as central to President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which identifies youth employment and economic inclusion as core targets.

Borno, still recovering from more than a decade of Boko Haram insurgency that guttered its schools and displaced its workforce, offers perhaps the most pointed test case for whether vocational training can serve as a genuine economic rebuild tool rather than a political talking point.