The executive governor of Borno State, Prof. Babagana Zulum and the Minister of Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika have supported efforts to boost skills in the country by obtaining 12,000 copies of a recent book titled ‘Skills Rather than Just Degrees‘ by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami.
The book, unveiled on November 24, 2022, in Abuja, had its foreword written by the president of Microsoft Corporation, Mr. Brad Smith.
Skills Rather than Just Degreesfocuses on the importance of skills and their potential impact in addressing the problems of unemployability, unemployment and underemployment. The book is a finely researched work which represents the paradigm shift advocated for by Pantami and aligns with the approach being adopted in leading educational and technological countries like the USA, Finland, India, among others.
The book was endorsed and unveiled by the executive secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Abubakar Rasheed; Endorsed by the executive secretary of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Prof. Idris Bugaje, amongst others.
Several vice chancellors – Prof. M.A. Abdulazeez of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) Bauchi, Prof. Owunari Abraham Georgewill of the University of Port-Harcourt and Prof. Sagir Abbas of Bayero University Kano – endorsed the book.
In a bid to boost skilling in Nigeria, Zulum obtained 10,000 copies of the book for distribution in schools and other institutions in Borno State, while Sirika obtained 2,000 copies for distribution in institutions across the country. 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. Also, they encouraged well-meaning Nigerians and institutions to follow their examples.
A statement by the minister’s senior technical assistant on research and development, Dr. Femi Adeluyi said the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy under Pantami’s leadership remains committed to implementing the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) to ensure that Nigeria’s digital economy remains a leading light and supports the country to become the talent capital of the continent and also the world.
Pantami, is also a professor of cybersecurity at the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo State.
