The Executive Governor of Borno State, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, and the Honourable Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, have supported efforts to boost skills in the country by obtaining 12,000 copies of a recent book on Skills Rather than Just Degrees by the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami), who is also a Professor of Cybersecurity at the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo State.
It should be recalled that the book was unveiled on Thursday, 24th of November, 2022 at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja. Mr Brad Smith, the President of Microsoft Corporation, wrote the Foreword to the book.
Skills Rather than Just Degrees focused on the importance of skills and their potential impact in addressing the problems of unemployability, unemployment and underemployment. The book is a research and productive work implementing the paradigm shift advocated by Professor Pantami and is in alignment with the approach adopted in leading educational and technological countries like the United States of America, Finland and India, among other countries.
The book was endorsed and unveiled by the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Abubakar Adamu Rasheed. Professor Idris Muhammad Bugaje, Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) was one of the personalities that endorsed the book. A number of Vice Chancellors also endorsed and reviewed the book, including Professor M.A. Abdulazeez, Vice Chancellor of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Professor Owunari Abraham Georgewill, Vice Chancellor of the University of Port-Harcourt and Prof. Sagir Adamu Abbas, Vice Chancellor of Bayero University Kano.
In a bid to boost skilling in Nigeria, Professor Babagana Zulum obtained 10,000 copies of the book for distribution in schools and other institutions in Borno State. Senator Hadi Sirika also obtained 2,000 copies for distribution in institutions nationwide. Both high-profile personalities were motivated to do this after reading the book and acknowledging the high quality of the content and its capacity to inspire Nigerians to embrace skills as a catalyst for national transformation. They also encouraged well-meaning Nigerians and institutions to follow their example. It is hoped that other stakeholders will try and circulate the book in their communities.
The Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, under Professor Pantami’s leadership, remains committed to implementing the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) in order to ensure that Nigeria’s digital economy remains a leading light and support the country becomes the talent capital of the continent and also the world.
