Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani has approved N810 million in financial support for 4,050 graduates of the Kaduna State Institute of Vocational Training and Skills Development.
The governor announced the intervention on Thursday at the institute’s maiden graduation ceremony held at the Abdulkadir Balarabe Musa Campus in Rigachikun, Kaduna.
Under the programme, each graduate will receive N200,000 to help them transition from training into productive employment or entrepreneurship.
Sani said the funds would be administered through the Kaduna State Enterprise Development Agency and could be used to purchase work tools, provide initial working capital, complete professional registration or cover transportation costs while seeking employment.
He said the state government was also working with companies and industries to create opportunities for graduates through direct employment, apprenticeships, internships, mentorships and subcontracting arrangements.
“We are also developing a digital platform to connect graduates with employers and track employment outcomes,” the governor said.
Sani said the success of the programme would not be measured solely by the number of people trained or graduated, but by the number who secure jobs, establish businesses, improve their incomes and obtain contracts.
The governor said the graduates, who qualified for National Skills Qualification Level II, had been equipped with practical skills capable of enabling them to contribute to the economy.
He said the administration was building an ecosystem that would enable young people to become self-reliant while creating opportunities for women, persons with disabilities and artisans to participate meaningfully in the economy.
The institute operates three campuses located at Rigachikun, Soba and Samaru Kataf, with training provided free of charge.
According to the governor, the programmes combine practical training with theory, literacy, numeracy, entrepreneurship and soft skills across 14 trade areas.
The areas include electrical installation, welding and fabrication, aluminium fabrication, computer hardware repairs and maintenance, catering and hospitality, masonry, refrigeration and air conditioning, fashion design and garment making, carpentry and joinery, painting and decoration, tiling, plumbing and pipe fitting, solar installation and automotive mechatronics.
Sani said the institute’s partnership with the National Board for Technical Education allows it to train participants in line with National Occupational Standards and award National Skills Qualifications under the Nigerian Skills Qualifications Framework.
He added that the Kaduna State Council on Skills, which he chairs, had also been established to provide an institutional framework for sustaining the state’s skills development programme.
The governor said Kaduna’s approach had received recognition from Vice President Kashim Shettima and the National Council on Skills as a grassroots, bottom-up model for skills acquisition.
Highlighting the impact of the programme, Sani disclosed that one of the state’s trainees, Ibrahim Abubakar Jikamshi, won the welding category and was named Overall Best Artisan of the Year at the sixth National Construction Artisans Award held in Abuja in February 2026.
He thanked President Bola Tinubu for supporting the initiative, recalling that the President commissioned the institute’s facilities in June 2025.
Sani said the government remained committed to equipping residents with practical skills that could improve livelihoods and drive economic development across Kaduna State.
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