NADDC centre: Ebonyi youths get pathway to auto-tech jobs
By Amarachi Ehia, Abakaliki
Ebonyi State Governor, Rt. Hon. Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru, has described the newly commissioned National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) Training Centre in Abakaliki as a strategic investment in skills that will enable youths to build businesses and participate in Nigeria’s emerging automotive technology industry.
Nwifuru, who spoke at the commissioning on Friday, said the facility was not an extension of the conventional mechanic workshop but an investment in youths who would diagnose sophisticated automotive systems, develop technological solutions and create employment. He urged young Ebonyians to embrace technical education, stressing that technical knowledge was not inferior to conventional academic education.
The governor said the centre fitted into his administration’s industrialisation agenda under the People’s Charter of Needs, which prioritises infrastructure, human capital, technology and productive enterprise. He also invited investors in automotive services, component manufacturing, fabrication, vehicle maintenance, diagnostics, electric mobility and technical education to explore opportunities in the state.
The Minister of State for Industry, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Senator John Owan Enoh, said the project underscored the Federal Government’s commitment to skills development, industrialisation and economic diversification.
Enoh, who said the facility was the first NADDC centre he was commissioning in the South-East, urged youths to acquire technical skills that could enable them to establish businesses and create employment rather than depend solely on paid jobs.
He said the emergence of electric vehicles and other new automotive technologies had made specialised technical training increasingly important, adding that the facility would contribute to building the workforce required for Nigeria’s changing automotive industry.
NADDC Director-General, Chief Joseph Osanipin, said the centre, located along Ogoja Road, Abakaliki, was equipped with modern training tools for practical and industry-relevant training of youths, technicians, artisans, students, vehicle owners and entrepreneurs.
He said it would serve as a hub for automotive skills acquisition, technical innovation, entrepreneurship development, technology transfer and workforce preparation.
Osanipin disclosed that NADDC was developing an automotive certification framework with qualification levels ranging from Level One to Level Nine, while training at the centre would cover compressed natural gas (CNG), electric vehicles, automotive mechatronics and electronic diagnostics.
He said the facility would help produce skilled manpower for the automotive, agricultural and industrial equipment sectors in Ebonyi and the wider South-East.
However, Osanipin appealed to the Ebonyi State Government to help restore electricity to the centre, revealing that the transformer serving the facility had been vandalised. He stressed that reliable power was critical to the operation of the specialised training equipment installed at the centre.
Chairman of the NADDC Governing Board, Chief Emma Eneukwu, commended the Federal and Ebonyi State governments for their collaboration, while Ebonyi State Commissioner for Human Capital Development and Monitoring, Chief Mrs Ann Aligwe, said the centre aligned with the state’s policy of equipping citizens with sustainable skills.
She said the facility would give Ebonyi youths and women technical competencies capable of making them self-reliant and economically productive.
