The Federal Cooperative College Oji River Enugu State Nigeria, has advocated for more attention to be given to technical education in Nigeria.
This is coming on the heels of the wide gap between university education and technical education respectively.
The institution posited that if the technical education sector received more funding as much as other tertiary institutions in Nigeria, there would be reductions in the crave and scramble for white collar jobs.
They also believe that good funding will have emphasis placed on blue collar jobs where hand crafts and other forms of crafts breed wealth creators, entrepreneurs and self-employed individuals who would help grow as well as advance local and national economy.
The Admissions Officer of the Federal Cooperative College, Hon. Obinna Ezeano, who spoke extensively about the prospects and potentials of the institution, said technical education was the core mandate at the Federal Cooperative College Oji River and that graduates of the college were great ambassadors of the college in their various endeavours in the corporate world.
Ezeano, who opined that university education was not superior to technical education, maintained that there was need for the federal government to close the dichotomy between university education and technical education as he believes very strongly that the likes of Germany, China and some other developed nations leveraged on technical education to attain their current status in the global ratings.
According to him, Federal Cooperative College Oji River was one of the technical institutions in the country government could accord priority attention to, in terms of funding and other forms of assistance to enable her to consolidate on the production of Nigerians who will not only re-channel productivity to creative ideas but also contribute to the promotion of local contents in the international markets.
He said there was need for the federal government to build more skill acquisition centres across the 36 states of the federation so that graduates of most tertiary institutions could acquire hands-on training after school and toe the line of sole proprietorships thereafter where white collar jobs are not forthcoming.
He added that such opportunities for technical trainings in diverse areas of human endeavours are readily available at the Federal Cooperative College Oji River Enugu State.
Meanwhile, Internal Auditor of the College, Mr. Okeze Daniel Chukwudi, added that the school is akin to a College of Medicine, where students are trained to be real professionals in their respective areas of specialisation.
Okeze noted that indeed emphasis should be placed on technical education to enhance local content production as well as encourage patronage of Made-In-Nigeria goods and services as it would help create massive employments and reduce over-dependence on government jobs and appointments.
The Internal Auditor also stated that there was need for the federal government to be more serious and proactive with the funding of education. He said it is evidently clear that the percentage allocated to education in the National Budget was not befitting when compared to the minimum standard globally.
He said that in countries like China, cooperative colleges were given special attention because it was from the cooperative colleges that they got the middle and low level man power which he described as the core people who drive every economy.
Okeze, who observed that Nigeria was lacking in the middle and low level human resource, maintained that the federal government should equip technical colleges across the country with facilities and equipment to enable them to operate optimally for the production of Nigerians with the technical know-how to contribute their token for the development and advancement of the Nigerian nation.
Raymond Ozoji
