Minister of Works, Power & Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, has said that massive investment in human capital development is “very crucial” to poverty reduction.
Speaking after an inspection tour of the Electrical/Mechanical Training School, a training arm of the ministry located in Kuje, Abuja, he said, “It is important to invest in the development of personnel; there are competing demands for government’s limited resources, but we shall continue to pay special attention to human capital development.”
“We need to improve on the standards; we must acknowledge the vision of those who started this training school. Our desire is to improve it and maximise its potential.
“I think it is instructive that the interaction with the students is very fulfilling and revealing. They are learning new skills and human capacity development is being enhanced.
“People who have no jobs are also acquiring skills; people who have skills are certainly on their way out of poverty without a doubt.
“The more you know, the more skills you have, the better you will be; the more employment skills you will present if you are interviewed for a new job, the better you are if you are running your own business’’ Fashola said.
NAN reports that the Electrical/Mechanical Training School was established in 2018 to train low level manpower and personnel like drivers and mechanics to enable them have career progression in the civil service.
The school is equipped with workshops stuffed with different equipment such as lathe machines, milling machines, shaping machines, drilling and octagonal machines, a functional foundry workshop, classrooms, offices and a gymnasium.
