Yenagoa—Senator Douye Diri, the Executive Governor of Bayelsa State has espoused that his administration focuses on skill development, because of the need to change the narrative on unemployment in the state in the light of an increasingly digitalised global economy.
The governor who made this known at the Local Content Tower in Yenagoa on Tuesday, during the grand finale of the Nigerian Content Science and Technology Innovation Challenge (STIC), stated that his administration has established colleges of science and technical education in every Local Government Area of the state in order to equip citizens of the state with skills.
A press statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, pointed out that his Diri’s administration has shifted focus from a certificate education to science and technology-based skills.
Commending the efforts of the NCDMB and its partners in science and technology development in the state, Diri revealed that science and technology are catalysts for societal growth.
“The current management of the board has not left anyone in doubt as to its commitment in fulfilling its mandate of producing a new set of engineers, scientists and technologists to fill the local content demand of our country,” he said.
While noting that 60 per cent of the liquefied natural gas project located in Rivers state was being procured from Bayelsa, the governor challenged the management of the state tertiary institutions and students to be among the top participants in the next edition.
The NCDMB Executive Secretary, Engr. Simbi Wabote, in his address, described the Nigerian Content Science, Technology and Innovation Challenge as one of the catalysts for Nigeria’s oil and gas industrialization.
He said the programme targeted at students of accredited tertiary institutions is geared towards engaging, developing, showcasing, supporting and rewarding deserving students, lecturers and universities that excelled in the challenge.
