Kogi to solidify security gains to protect investments in state »

…As Dangote Foundation, Partners, Flag-off Vocational Academy in Kogi

…First Set of 120 Trainees, Drawn from Across the Country

Kogi State Governor, His Excellency Yahaya Bello has reassured investors, travellers, residents and citizens of his administration’s commitments to ensure the State thrives on maximum security of their lives and properties.

Governor Bello whose State is a largely peaceful oasis in Nigeria’s volatile North Central made the promise on Wednesday during the Launch of a Technical Training Academy, founded by the Aliko Dangote Foundation, in partnership with its investors in the State.

The Governor, ably-represented by his Deputy, Chief Edward Onoja, at the event which held at the Eko Hotel in Lagos, appreciated the Foundation and her partners for citing the vocational institute in Obajana town of Kogi State, currently hosting the Group’s largest cement production facility. He said the new institution which currently has 120 students, fits nicely into the 1st and 4th thematic areas of his Principal’s New Direction Blueprint, targeting education, job creation, and youth engagement.

Chief Onoja observed that the academy will also improve access to Technical Education for Kogi and Nigerian youths, with multiplier effects on human capital development, employment, and wealth creation. He revealed that Governor Bello recently established the Confluence University of Science and Technology (CUSTECH) at Osara, in Kogi in the bid to enhance Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics-Education for Kogi and Nigerians by extension.

It would be recalled that Kogi State used to be notorious for insecurity due to terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and herdsmen-farmer clashes, but currently enjoys relative since the advent of the Yahaya Bello-led APC administration. Experts, including the Nigerian Special Forces Battalion and Abuja-based National Institute for Security Studies, are unanimous that the young Governor’s no-nonsense approach to security is responsible.

The Aliko Dangote Foundation– VDMA Technical Training Academy is a collaborative effort between the Foundation which is the charity arm of the Dangote conglomerate, the VDMA and its Foundation for Young Talents in Mechanical Engineering. It is the culmination of the partners’ shared vision to address the serious deficits in supply of vocational skills to the manufacturing sector in Nigeria.

According to the Foundation, the facility at the Dangote Academy in Obajana provides perfect conditions for technical training, modern classrooms, highly-qualified trainers, sophisticated learning tools, and state-of-the-art training equipment. The Centre which offers freetraining for all students will also function as a hub for Nigerian and foreign companies.

Also in attendance were the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Representatives of the Ministers for Science and Technology and his Education counterpart, the German Consulate, Representatives of VDMA, and Other dignatories with thousands joining virtually from across the globe.