- Safiu Kehinde
President Bola Tinubu has on Saturday in Owerri advised young graduates to embrace farming and vocational training, and Information Technology in addition to their academic qualifications, stressing that the era of white-collar job is over.
Tinubu gave the advice in a goodwill message at the 36th Convocation of the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO).
The President in his message read by Florence Obi, Vice Chancellor of the University of Calabar, admonished the Nigerian graduates to add value to themselves and the nation by harnessing the potential of agriculture, vocational skills and Information Technology.
“The period white-collar jobs were readily available has faded away. I urge you to harness the potentials in agriculture, vocational skills and Information Technology to add value to yourself and the nation.” he counseled.
However, Tinubu harped on the need for quality education to speed up Nigeria’s economic development.
He said that his administration places much premium on educational growth.
The president said that his administration had repositioned federal universities to enable them conduct researches to solve the nation’s challenges.
“Education is a major fulcrum for national development; it is a catalyst for alleviating poverty and promoting economic growth and development.
“This fact remains sacrosanct for my administration hence the inclusion of education among the eight priority areas that include economy, security, agriculture, energy, infrastructure and health.
“To further underscore the Federal Government’s commitment towards tertiary education, we established the Nigerian Education Loan Fund dedicated to granting students fees and personal upkeep loans.
“A total of N33bn was made available to start the programme which commenced this year with six pilot universities from each of the geopolitical zones,” he revealed.
Tinubu further said that the Federal Government had made substantial interventions in FUTO to upgrade its facilities and infrastructure.
Meanwhile the First Lady, Sen. Oluremi Tinubu, Gov. Hope Uzodinma of Imo, and his Borno counterpart, Prof. Babangida Zulum, were present at the event and were conferred with honorary doctorate degrees at the ceremony.