By Adedapo Adesanya
The federal government said it has begun revamping the Federal Ministry of Works’ Central Workshop in Ijora, Lagos, for mass job creation and training of artisans.
This was disclosed by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, Mr Babangida Hussaini, during the inspection of facilities on Wednesday.
He said the obsolete equipment at the workshop were being replaced to make it live up to its mandate of job creation and training of artisans to bridge the skills gap in the country.
He said the Ministry would soon submit its recommendations for consideration by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to revamp the Central Workshop of the Mechanical and Electrical Development Skills section.
Mr Hussaini said the workshop had previously served as an industrial hub for fabrication and production of mechanical, automotive and electrical parts as well as a training school.
The Perm Sec, who led a delegation of directors of the Ministry from both Lagos and Abuja on the inspection of the centre, said its production capacity had declined due to the old equipment that was still being used.
He said the Ministry was determined to pursue the immediate reactivation of the centre by December this year for improved training of graduates and non-graduates in craftsmanship.
“This will be followed by a full scale revamp from January 2022, with the possible option of a Public-Private-Partnership.
“This will restore the glory of the centre and make it achieve the National Economic Sustainability Plan of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration,” he said.
He said the Minister had earlier inspected the facility and that he was on an assessment tour of the centre towards making policy recommendations.
The top official said short and long term measures would be adopted to train artisans in various fields to bridge the skill gap while generating millions of jobs in line with the policy of the President Buhari-led administration.
“The National Sustainability plan of this administration and the vision of Mr President is to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty,” he said.
He said the centre’s foundry machines had already been replaced with new models in the Lagos centre and another in Kuje, Abuja, as part of an ongoing upgrade of the facilities, which were over 50 years old.
He said all hands would be on deck to ensure new technologies were adopted, while also supporting the ongoing plans to continue the production of railway parts as was done in the past.
