Flowerbud News

Author: Ibrahim Abusadiq

  • NAFDAC raids hawkers’ outlets, seizes products worth over N2m

    NAFDAC raids hawkers’ outlets, seizes products worth over N2m

    By Moses Omorogieva

    Lagos: The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) says it seized products worth more than N2 million at hawkers’ and illegal drug sellers’ outlets in some parts of Lagos State.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr Afolabi Aderemi, Deputy Director, Pharmaceutical Enforcement Directorate of NAFDAC, Lagos State, made the disclosure on Friday to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

    Aderemi said that the seizures were made during operations by NAFDAC personnel on Thursday evening at Mile 2, Ajegunle and Apapa areas of Lagos State.

    He said that although there were no arrests, the agency was satisfied at the seizures since its main concern was to ensure that illegal and fake products were out of circulation.

    According to Aderemi, the hawkers, who are always at alert of NAFDAC’s constant raids, escaped, leaving their wares behind.

    He said that the raid was continuous.

    “We have counselled members of the public to stop patronising hawkers in buying drugs, as what they are selling are not NAFDAC-approved,’’ he said.

    The official said that a number of such hawkers had been arrested and profiled.

    “ We want to know those behind them.

    “We noticed that anytime we go out for raids, for about two weeks or more, the hawkers will not be found in such areas, but after sometime, they will reappear.

    “We want to block their products from members of the public. If there is no supply, there would be no demand.

    “Members of the public should go to registered pharmaceutical stores for drugs,” he advised.

    NAN

  • NAFDAC seeks robust collaboration with NCS, DSS, others at ports

    NAFDAC seeks robust collaboration with NCS, DSS, others at ports

    By Aderogba George

    The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), is seeking collaboration with the Nigeria Custom Services (NCS), Department of State Security and others to promote Nigerian goods abroad.
    The call for the collaboration is contained in a statement issued to newsmen by the agency’s resident media consultant, Olusayo Akintola, in Abuja on Sunday.
    The statement quoted NAFDAC Director-General (DG), Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, as saying that the collaboration would reduce frequent rejection of Nigerian food exported to Europe and the United States of America.
    The statement disclosed that Adeyeye made the assertion at the official commissioning of the New NAFDAC Office complex for the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
    Adeyeye lamented that over 70 per cent of food exported from Nigeria are rejected abroad with huge financial losses to the exporters and the country at large.
    She disclosed that the deplorable state of export trade facilitation for regulated products leaving the country has continued to be a serious cause for concern for NAFDAC.
    Adeyeye said that a trip to NAFDAC export warehouses within the international airport would explain unequivocally the major reason for the continuous rejection of Nigerian exports abroad.
    The DG stated that the agency was responding to this great challenge, hence the initiation of a collaborative adventure with the government agencies at the ports towards ensuring that goods are of requisite quality.
    She said that the collaboration would ensure that goods from Nigeria meet the regulatory requirements of the importing countries and destinations before such are even packaged and hauled to the ports for shipment.
    According to her, this raises the need for a more enhanced regulation of export-packaging, pre-shipment testing and certification to provide some quality assurance and to minimize rejection.
    Adeyeye said that this would also save the country’s reputation in international commerce, while calling on stakeholders in the export trade to see this as a call to duty and collaborate with NAFDAC.
    She said that the collaboration was for the sake of the country’s image and future.
    “The mandate to safeguard the health of the populace through ensuring that food, medicines, cosmetics, medical devices, chemicals, and packaged water are safe and efficacious, and are of the right quality.
    “This could never have been actualised without effective presence of NAFDAC at the ports and land borders.
    ‘’Our push through the resilience of the past Director, Prof Samson Adebayo, on assumption of duties, for the immediate return of NAFDAC to the ports also assisted a lot.
    “With gratitude for the approval of the President and the various arms of the Government, the results of our presence at the ports are available for everyone to see,” Adeyeye stressed.
    She, however, commended NCS for the symbiotic relationship that exists between its management and the agency, saying ‘’without customs, we will not be able to do a lot of what we are doing.”
    Adeyeye noted that the collaboration between customs and NAFDAC was a huge one, adding that NAFDAC is a complex organisation which work with different organisation.
    She disclosed that NAFDAC is a scientific agency which works with the police, DSS, Interpol, FBI because of the few unscrupulous elements.
    According to her, considering the money spent on getting those products out of the country, it is a double loss for both the exporter and the country.
    Adeyeye said that without the police

    NAFDAC cannot do much in terms of investigation and enforcement, adding that the agency has over 80 policemen working with it.
    The DG said that the agency had embarked on the optimization and customisation of its processes, stating that the Ports Inspection Data-Capture and Risk Management System (PIDCARMS) had been deployed to the ports and land borders.
    She said that they were deployed to automatically capture and process data for imported regulated products from the Nigeria Customs Information System (NICIS).
    Adeyeye said that the agency was also working assiduously with relevant stakeholders towards implementation of Traceability for pharmaceuticals in Nigeria.
    She recalled that a Traceability Pilot was conducted successfully for COVID-19 Vaccines distribution and a scale-up is being done as soon as feasible, for medicines and other regulated products.
    ‘’The Traceability Information System was developed from PIDCARMS, which underscores the integrative system of NAFDAC.
    “These efforts will further boost our regulatory oversight in monitoring the importation and distribution of medicines to ensure that spurious, substandard, and falsified (fake and counterfeit) products are minimised from our supply chain.
    ‘’Similarly, our Post-marketing Surveillance initiatives that involve the Ports Inspection Directorate are gaining global recognition, and we intend to do much more for our nation, especially for future generations.”
    She stated that the agency had extended the frontiers of the fight against substandard products through the procurement of more Truscan devices to check for quality of products at the ports, shops, market spaces and anywhere else.
    According to Adeyeye, NAFDAC is a customer-focused and agency minded organisation under her leadership. It has ‘’steadily engaged in improving service delivery in the course of carrying out its mandate as provided by NAFDAC Act Cap N1 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) 2004.”
    She said these efforts have paid off as NAFDAC has recently been recognized as a world class regulator, with the conferment of the World Health Organisation (WHO) ML3 Status.
    NAN
  • NAFDAC raids 15 supermarkets, seals one, confiscates expired commodities in Minna

    NAFDAC raids 15 supermarkets, seals one, confiscates expired commodities in Minna

    Flowerbudnews

     

    Minna:  The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC)  has raided 15 supermarkets in Minna, sealing one and confiscating many expired commodities.
     Mr Shaba Mohammed, Director, North Central, disclosed this on Thursday to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) during the exercise in Minna.
    “We are here to conduct some raids on some supermarkets in Minna.
    “So far we have covered 15 supermarkets in Minna. In all we discovered violative items which have been evacuated.
    “We also discovered unregistered products and others which have expired with the dates changed,” he said.
    Mohammed explained that some of the items included tea, baked beans beverages and other food consumables.
    “There was one particular supermarket with very poor hygiene, poor warehousing to the extent that they were storing some of their products in the toilet.
    “We had no alternative than to evacuate everything and the supermarket was sealed,” he said.
    He said that the owner of the sealed supermarket and other suspects were invited to Abuja and Kaduna for further investigation.
    The director said that the products confisticated would be taken to the laboratory for detailed analysis to enable it to prosecute the suspects accordingly.
    He said that the violators would be made to pay fines or face prosecution and the products destroyed, to protect public health.
    Mohammed advised the public to always read the label on any products they purchased to verify the NAFDAC registration number and expiration date because some of them could be cleaned and reprinted.
    Also, Mr James Kigbu, the State Coordinator, NAFDAC, said that the agency was on routine exercise to protect public health.
    “This is part of our activities to carry out regulatory functions,” he said.
    NAN observed during the raid that some of the supermarkets packed items meant for sale to unsuspecting members of the public on the floor of dirty warehouses infested with rodents that could endanger public health, instead of packing them on pallets for protection.
    The North Central zone of the agency comprises Niger, Nasarawa, Kogi, Benue and Plateau states.NAN/Flowerbudnews
  • NAFDAC assures safety of all brands of Indomie Noodles produced in Nigeria

    NAFDAC assures safety of all brands of Indomie Noodles produced in Nigeria

    By Aderogba George

    The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has assured consumers  of the safety of all brands of Indomie Noodles produced in the country.
    This was made known in a statement released by the agency resident media consultant of the agency, Mr Olusayo Akintola, in Abuja on Thursday.
    Akintola disclosed that the assurance was given by the Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, during the agency’s quarterly interactive session with Manufacturer Association of Nigeria (MAN) in Lagos.
    The D-G particularly assured on safety of the staple food consumed mostly among children and some adult, adding that they need not exercise fear while consuming.
    She said that the agency had revealed that the Indomie noodles produced in Nigeria was not implicated  in the recalls in Malaysia and Taiwan,  and implored Nigerians to always eat safe.
    Adeyeye disclosed that she loved to eat good food and take medicine, but she must be sure that such food and medicine she was going to take were certified.
    She explained that immediately the news of the recalls of Indomie Noodles from Malaysia and Taiwan got to Nigeria, she directed some directors in the agency to begin tripartite discussions with the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN).
    Adeyeye said that samples of the noodles and seasonings (spices) were collected by the agency for laboratory analysis, adding that the agency had run all the necessary tests.
    “We needed a chemical standard.
    “It’s all science. We are a science organisation, and our processes are science driven.
    “We cannot conduct our own Nigerian science. No. We have to use the international standard chemical agents.”
    According to her, the agency is highly sensitive in terms of food safety, adding that it has to make sure that it does the right thing, regulatory wise.
    Adeyeye disclosed that NAFDAC officials went round and took samples from the market, adding that there  were suitcase importers that could have brought such products into the country without the known of the agency.
    The NAFDAC boss emphasised that the agency did not ban importation of Indomie during the recent Taiwan and Malaysia episode where many people died after consuming Indomie Noodle.
    She said that noodles generally had been banned by the Federal Government many years before she assumed office as D-G NAFDAC, with the aim of protecting the local manufacturing sector.
    Adeyeye emphasised that the implicated foreign noodles are not in Nigeria, hence, the locally produced noodles are safe for human consumption.
    “We are improving on what will make our people healthier. Whatever we put into our food will affect us. Whether positively or otherwise’’.
    The D-G however, urged Nigerian manufacturers to strive to bring quality into their products, stressing that quality would create opportunity to trade globally as Nigeria market is the largest in Africa.
    She disclosed that regulatory agencies of several countries had  been coming to NAFDAC to make enquiries about bringing their goods to sell in Nigeria.
    She, therefore,  urged the MAN  to take the advantage to generate foreign exchange for the nation’s economy.
    Adeyeye particularly urged MAN to take the bull by the horn with the Food, Beverage, and Tobacco sector and Chemical and Pharmaceutical sector to take the lead, saying that “Nigeria can lead Africa in terms of trade with its effort”.
    NAN
  • NAFDAC bursts Baban Aisha production factory, impounds equipment

    NAFDAC bursts Baban Aisha production factory, impounds equipment

    By Aderogba George

    The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), on Wednesday burst Baban Aisha (a Local herbs producer) production factory in Tarfa community, along Kaduna-Abuja road.
    NAFDAC investigation and enforcement unit which carried out the operation along with its Kaduna state office,  stated that the operation followed a complain they received about the production factory.

    Mr Umar Sulaiman, Team leader (Federal Task Force), Investigative and Enforcement, NAFDAC, said the operation was a normal routine work of the agency to safeguard the health of the nation.

    According to him, “we went into action after investigations, and had the factory raided. The factory is called Sacramultilink Ltd., owned by Dr Salisu Sani, Nawagini Baban Aisha, who sells herbal medicine.
    “We are all here for one purpose and that is to safeguard the health of the nation. Upon our arrival here, we found a lot of violation of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), production of herbal medicine with expired licence.
    “We also witnessed an illegal production of some of the products which has not been registered with NAFDAC, along with poor hygiene practices and that is why we took this step.
    “We are going to seal this place and arrest any responsible officer here. This facility was registered but for only one product then, NAFDAC registration number was issued to the man and since then we have not seen him again.
    “He had gone ahead to produce other products, placing the same approved number for a particular product on other products. This is not right, it is not in best practices,” Sulaiman said.
    He disclosed that officials from the state office also come for inspection, and that anytime they come, they would give directives to the factory and it will comply, but after some time, the factory will go back to it normal sharp practices.
    Sulaiman stated that the renovation going on the factory may have been due to a viral video going round, compiled by one investigative journalist that Baban Aisha was producing substandard local herbs.
    Mr Nasiru Mato, State Coordinator, NAFDAC, Kaduna state, disclosed that the listing status of Baban Aisha product expired since 2018, and that he came for the renewal of the product licence.
    Mato said that upon Baban Aisha’s arrival to the agency office in Kaduna, he was given some compliance paper to fill before the renewal and approval.
    He said that the agency’s officials were at the factory upon the complain received on the same product, adding that the product had fallen below GMP, standard and below expectation of consumers.
    “So under this condition, we had no option than to seal the entire premises, evacuate all related equipment and facilities used for production.
    “GMP is a criteria for product registration, it must meet laid down standard,” Mato said.
    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that some of the equipment which NAFDAC moved away from the factory are one HD injection polythene 25kg, and one HDPE polythene 25kg.
    It also took away sacks with labels, Hana big box scale, speakers used in advertising the products, work master heat gun, and packaging bottles.
    Others are three pieces of portrait photograph, three copies of sales book, two packet of receipt booklet and four burning kettles.
    NAN
  • Dietician charges NAFDAC to regulate mode of processing cow hide into “ponmo”

    Dietician charges NAFDAC to regulate mode of processing cow hide into “ponmo”

    By Dorcas Elusogbon

    A dietician, Dr Salami Akorede, has called on NAFDAC to regulate the mode of processing cow hide into “ponmo’’ for human consumption.

    Akorede is the Director, Dietetics Department at Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife, Osun.

    He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at Ile-Ife on Saturday that the popular mode of burning cow hide on naked fire to produce “ponmo’’ was deleterious to health.

    He stressed that the process of burning cow hide on naked fire made the product to become potential source of cancer when consumed regularly.

    “Where it is well processed, `ponmo’ is a good source of protein, water, energy and micronutrients which contain fibre that aid digestion.

    “In producing `ponmo’, processors should regulate the exposure of the cow hide to naked fire so as to minimise the formation of nitrates on them.

    “ `Ponmo’ can also serve as alternative to meat as it is cheap and affordable.’’ Dr Akorede said.

    The dietician urged consumers to ensure they took `ponmo’ alongside other protein-rich sources like meat, fish, crayfish and soya balls to complement their protein supply.

    He charged the Federal Government to reduce taxes on fish and chicken so as to make them affordable as source of protein.

    “More people should be encouraged to take to animal husbandry to reduce the in-take of `ponmo’, however,’’ Akorede said. (NAN)

  • Food exports: NAFDAC reaches out to pre-shipment inspection agents

    Food exports: NAFDAC reaches out to pre-shipment inspection agents

    By Aderogba George

    The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC)

    has reached out to pre-shipment inspection agents at Nigerian ports on the need for them to collaborate with a view to ensuring that export-bound foods are not rejected abroad.

    The collaboration move was contained in a statement signed by the Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye and issued on Sunday by the agency’s Media Consultant, Mr Olusayo Akintola.

    The statement said that Adeyeye reached out to the pre-shipment agents at a consultative meeting held on Friday.

    According to the statement, Adeyeye was represented at the meeting by Dr Abimbola Adegboye, Director, Port Inspection Directorate (PID), NAFDAC) and the Head, Office of Trade and International Relations (OTIR).

    Adeyeye said the collaboration was in continuation of the search for a lasting solution to the problem of Nigerian non-oil exports which were being rejected abroad.

    She said that the collaboration would revamp the export trade in the non-oil sector and reposition Nigeria in the global market.

    The NAFDAC boss expressed the agency’s discomfort at the alarming rate at which Nigerian food exports were being rejected abroad.

    She said the meeting was aimed at building effective collaboration with NAFDAC to complement its robust regulatory policies geared towards understanding the NAFDAC export processes.

    Adeyeye said that the collaboration was also to safeguard a unified exportation procedure and zero rejection of Nigeria’s export products.

    She lamented that NAFDAC, which she described as the competent authority on food safety matter with global accreditation in food safety testing, could be left out in the list of organisations whose inputs were required before Clean Certificate of Inspection (CCI) is issued by Pre-shipment Inspection Agents.

    She said that there was high volume of rejection of Nigerian food products abroad because NAFDAC was not involved in the screening such products prior to their exportation.

    “NAFDAC as a governmental agency was established by enabling Act Cap N1 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) 2004 which empowers the agency as the competent authority in Nigeria,“ she pointed out.

    According to Adeyeye, the agency is charged with the responsibility of regulating and controlling the quality of manufactured food products, their importation, exportation, distribution, advertisement, sale, and consumption .

    “Essentially, NAFDAC is mandated is to ensure that traded products are of good quality, safe and wholesome,“ she pointed out.

    The NAFDAC director general said that the Port Inspection Directorate of the agency had met with the Chairman of Comprehensive Import Supervision Scheme (CISS).

    “The directorate has also met with the Nigeria Export Supervision Scheme (NESS), Area Comptroller of the Nigeria Customs Services at the Ports, advocacy visits were made to export sheds at the seaports, airports and land boarders,” she said.

    She, however, expressed her appreciation in respect of the activities of PIAs, the main actors in the export processing chain.

    She said that the coming together of critical stakeholders would enhance the non-oil sector, making it better and more robust.

    According

    to her, NAFDAC seeks to enhance export trade encouraging and supporting trade in quality products.

    She assured PIAs and other sister agencies, including Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS), Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and the Nigeria Custom Service (NCS) of quality collaboration.

    Adeyeye disclosed that cocoa beans, sesame seeds, cashew and seven other products topped the list of agricultural commodities Nigeria exported in the first nine months of 2022, generating N427.6 billion or $1.02 billion.

    She disclosed that the European Union (EU) would reject consignments containing foods that did not comply with EU maximum residue limits for veterinary medicine and pesticides and maximum limits (MLs) for contaminants in foods.

    Adeyeye, however, maintained that tightening the regulatory and inspection regime for exports of food items and agricultural products was one of the ways to address export rejections.

    According to her, all relevant government agencies and associations involved in Nigeria’s exports must ensure that agro products meet specified international standards, are safe and are of good quality.

    NAN

  • NAFDAC warns against consumption of carbide-ripened fruits

    NAFDAC warns against consumption of carbide-ripened fruits

    By Isaiah Eka

    The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has advised Nigerians not to consume fruits ripened with calcium carbide to avoid health complications.
    The Director General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, gave the warning in her keynote address during the South-South Zone media sensitisation workshop on the dangers of drug hawking and ripening of fruits with calcium carbide in Uyo on Thursday.
    Adeyeye, who was represented by Dr Leonard Omokpariola, Director, Chemical Evaluation & Research, said that consuming such artificially ripened fruits could result in sleeping disorders, mouth ulcers, skin rashes, kidney problems and cancer.
    She said that calcium carbide is alkaline in nature and erodes the mucosal tissue in the abdominal region and disrupts intestinal functions.
    The DG said that NAFDAC has commenced campaigns in the nooks and crannies of the country to eradicate the menace of using calcium carbide to ripen fruits and hawking of drugs.
    “Consumption of fruits containing these impurities may cause cancer, heart, kidney and liver failure.
    “They may also cause frequent thirst, irritation in mouth and nose, weakness, permanent skin damage, difficulty in swallowing, vomiting, skin ulcer and so on.
    “Higher exposure may cause undesired fluid build-up in lungs (pulmonary oedema).
    “Acetylene produced by Calcium Carbide affects the neurological system and reduces oxygen supply to the brain and further induces prolonged hypoxia.
    “The impurities are hazardous to pregnant women and children and may lead to headache, dizziness, mood disturbances, mental confusion, memory loss, cerebral oedema (swelling in the brain caused by excessive fluids), sleepiness, seizure,” Adeyeye said.
    Adeyeye also urged Nigerians not to patronise drugs by hawkers.
    The director general added that the menace of drug hawking posed a serious challenge to the healthcare delivery system in the country, stressing that NAFDAC has resolved to totally eradicate the illicit trade.
    She said that drug hawkers knowingly or unknowingly were merchants of death, who exposed essential and life-saving medicines to the vagaries of inclement weather.
    “Drug hawkers are also the major distributors and suppliers of narcotic medicines to criminal networks, including armed bandits, insurgents, kidnappers and armed robbers.
    “Drug Hawkers constitute a serious threat to our national security,” Adeyeye said.
    Earlier in his opening remarks, the NAFDAC Director of Public Affairs, Dr Abubakar Jimoh, said Nigeria was undaunted with so many fake drugs that must be eliminated to serve the health of Nigerians.
    Jimoh said the sensitisation workshop was to partner with journalists and stakeholders to educate the public on the dangers of drug hawking and ripening of fruits with calcium carbide.
    He assured Nigerians that the menace of drug hawking must be exterminated from society to ensure the health of Nigerians.
    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the sensitisation workshop drew journalists from Abia, Akwa Ibom, Cross River and Rivers, respectively.
    NAN
  • Policy document: NBTE lauds Tinubu on TVET as 4th pillar

    Policy document: NBTE lauds Tinubu on TVET as 4th pillar

    By Funmilayo Adeyemi

    Prof. Idris Bugaje, the Executive Secretary, National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), has commended President Bola Tinubu for making Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) as the fourth pillar in the policy document of his administration.
    He said that this was a reflection of Tinubu’s commitment to transform technical education for national development.
    Bugaje, who spoke in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja said that this gesture would also grow the number of technical colleges in the country.
    According to him, almost 60 per cent of the population is youthful and one of the highest in the world.
    According to the executive secretary, there is the need for the country to reposition TVET so that the youths can be empowered.
    Bugaje said: “We commend President Bola Tinubu for efforts to transform Nigeria.
    “He has made TVET training his fourth pillar and this the the first time TVET is featuring as a pillar in the policy document of any government.
    “So, we are very hopeful that he is going to reposition technical education because we must grow the number of technical colleges in Nigeria from the present number of 126 out of over 15,000 senior secondary schools.
    “Our technical colleges are the ones to feed the polytechnics. It is the absence of products from technical colleges that leads to the low number of technicians.”
    While also appealing to the president to adequately fund technical education, Bugaje said that infrastructure in technical education were already dilapidating, hence the need to revive the sector.
    “When you enter the hall they do practicals in technical schools, it is either the roof is leaking, the machines there are obsolete or the materials used for practicals are not available.
    “The principal in such a school is a graduate of sociology, the instructors have no experience and so they are not delivering.
    “There is need for a marshall plan for technical education in Nigeria. We have to declare not only state of emergency which is easy to do.
    ” But let us also have marshall plan for technical education so that we can reinvent the colleges, retrain the teachers and instructors and bring new equipment.
    “Buy state-of-art equipment in welding- underwater welding and train the people and give them proper certification so that can have jobs across industries. So funding is fundamental,” he said.
    The executive secretary stressed the need to bring the informal skills sector into TVET training programme so as to discourage the importation of skilled manpower.
    Bugaje said: “If we don’t produce the skills ourselves, we loose a lot from other countries.
    “We need to reposition our polytechnics and to do this, we must bring in the informal skills sector into our training programmes.
    ” Look at Apo mechanic village in Abuja, the Ariaria market in Aba, Computer Village in Lagos, Panteka in Kaduna and see the wonderful things they are doing there.
    “In Panteka, there are about 38,000 enterprises, they don’t have any certification and there is no quality assurance.”
    According to him, the board is now asking polytechnics to engage them to give them skills qualification training and certificate for the skills they have.
    Bugaje added:”So, that if the private sector is looking for skills qualification they will go there and recruit certified welders and fabricators and certified pipe fitters.
    “So, that is why we need to mobilise resources so that TVET can lead to the real industrialisation of Nigeria.”
    He said that if the government concentrated on the informal skills sector, train the technicians and craftsmen, Nigeria would be able to feed not only her industries but also industries from other countries of the world.
    Bugaje, while calling for the creation of more polytechnics to deliver the skills needed for the overall development of the country, also suggested the conversation of some universities that were not performing into polytechnics.
    “Some states have two to three federal universities but in reality, for every university graduates of HND from the polytechnic, so we are doing the reverse.
    “At the moment, Nigeria imports skilled manpower to deliver the dangote refinery and if we don’t produce the skills ourselves, we lose a lot from other countries.
    “We need to reposition our polytechnics and there is the need to also bring in the informal skills sector into our training programmes,” he said.
    NAN