TVET & Youth Empowerment for National Security in Nigeria

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TECHNICAL, VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING AND YOUTH EMPOWERMENT FOR NATIONAL SECURITY

By

Prof. Ogo. T. Ibeneme FNIM, FNATT, FCISDean faculty of Education

Nnamdi azikiwe university, [email protected]

&Osinachi Anthony Okorafor

Department of Vocational educationNnamdi azikiwe university [email protected]

Abstract

The paper acknowledged that national security is a precondition for maintaining the survival, growth and development of a State. But it observed that Nigeria is facing a lot of security challenges in recent times, perpetrated mostly by the youths. The youth mostly involved are the unskilled and unemployed. The high level of insecurity, which is proportionate to high rate of unskilled/unemployed youths, is becoming uncontainable by the security agencies despite all reformations in the security of Nigeria. By implication, Nigeria’s socio-economic development will continue to be hindered if the state of security is not improved in the nearest future. The paper in search of innovative ways to contain insecurity, identified youth empowerment as a very effective strategy to improve national security. It illustrated the potentials of Technical, Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in empowering the youths to be employable and self-reliant. The paper further illustrated vividly how empowering youths through TVET will contain insecurity and promote national security. Finally the paper suggested how TVET can further be strengthen to potentially realize this objective to the fullest.

Introduction

Throughout history, the evolution of human society has been driven by the need for survival, safety and growth. One of the distinguishing characteristics of nationhood is its ability to provide security for her citizens, defend her sovereignty and territorial integrity. Needless saying that national security is a precondition for growth and development. This is true because if the national security is undermined, the State’s peace, economic stability and social justice will not be guaranteed or sustained. Wikipedia (2012) supported that national security is the requirement to maintain the survival of a country through the use of economic diplomacy, power projection and political power. Thus protecting the State

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from increasingly complex challenges and threats has been a constant concern for all government authorities.

Nigeria in response to this fundamental issue has stated in its 1999 constitution (section 14 subsection 2-b) that the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government. Unfortunately, Nigeria in the recent years has been facing several security challenges. Otto and Ikpere (2012) noted that since the advent of the present democratic dispensation, new forms of violent crimes have become common, such as; kidnapping, pipeline vandalization, Boko Haram bombings, rape, political violence, even sacking of a whole village because of minor political differences, etc. The bitter truth is that no one or place is considered totally safe within Nigeria. While those in the southern parts of Nigeria grapple with kidnapping and other violent crimes, Nigerians in the north live in utter terror, not knowing where and when the next set of bombs will explode. The country has also witnessed several ethnic and religious crises which appear to be escalating at an intolerable scale. Abubakar (2005) was of the opinion that these criminal activities create insecurity and breach of the peace that affect legitimate social and economic activities in the country.

The security environment is becoming more dynamic and uncertain, resonating with numerous threats and contestations which are transnational in nature and have the potential to grow more lethal. The youths are the major stakeholders that threaten national security. Their social ill acts are closely interlinked with idleness (unemployment) resulting from lack of empowerment.

Despite all military strategies employed in Nigeria, national security challenges have continued to escalate. It is therefore time for the government to turn to youth empowerment as an effective strategy to control youth restiveness and its negative effects on national security. Empowering youths in this sense entail equipping them with sealable competencies to lead a meaningful life and contribute to the development of their society. This is what TVET does best. Thus this paper examines: national security and how Nigeria is affected, youth empowerment, forms of TVET relevant to youth empowerment, relationship between youth empowerment and national security, rationale for youth empowerment in Nigeria, and place of TVET in youth empowerment for national security.

National Security: The Nigerian Situation and EffectEmerging circumstances of trans-national threats, which now exist and thrive irrespective of national borders, and comprising a list of different risk factors that seem unending have further challenged the concept of national security (Aituaje, 2013). While some people see national security in terms of a nation’s military capabilities or the struggle to overcome internal and external aggression, others consider a nation as secure once it is free from military threats or political coercion. The issues that constitute security threats also vary

PROF. OGO. T. IBENEME FNIM, FNATT, FCIS; DEAN FACULTY OF EDUCATION NNAMDI AZIKIWE UNIVERSITY, AWKA [email protected] & OSINACHI ANTHONY OKORAFOR; DEPARTMENT OF VOCATIONAL

EDUCATION NNAMDI AZIKIWE UNIVERSITY AWKA [email protected]

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across nations. Whereas the major security threats to some powerful nations like the USA and its allies today may be how to defeat international terrorism and to promote their economic interest and democratic values, the developing countries like Nigeria have their peculiar security challenges determined by socio-economic and political circumstances (Mu’azu, 2012).

To be secured is to be protected from certain possible risks. A hungry man may view security in terms of the ability to provide food just as a blind person could view the ability to see as security. Similarly, just as an unemployed person might view a secured employment as security, a rich man might view a high fence as well as armed body guards as his security. A very religious person could simply consider closeness to God as the source of security just as other people could consider local deities or graven images as the source of their own security and protection from harm (Kayode, 2013).

National security encompass the total security of a state – security of life and property, security of the economy and the economic resource areas of the country, security of food and raw materials resources, of the general health of the people, of the environment and national integrity, and preservation of all that society considers being important and valuable. Security is therefore time-bound and malleable. It implies protection against, or safety from, a future risk of severe deprivation, injury or death, and requires rules, order and impartial adjudication and application.

Therefore, national security may be defined in the view of Aituaje (2013) as the ability of nations to promote the pursuit and realization of the fundamental needs and vital interests of its citizens, and to protect them from all forms of threats which may be economic, social, environmental, political, military or epidemiological in nature. These threats are numerous, diverse and complex. They could take the form of terrorist attacks, pervasive poverty, violent conflict, natural disasters, cybercrimes, trans-border crimes, proliferation of arms, external aggression, and contagious diseases (HIV/AIDS), among others. Some of these threats to national security may stem from the domestic environment of nations or from the external environment.

In another view, national security has been defined as the ability of states to ward off all forms of threat to the survival and sustenance of a State and its people as well as the ability of a state to protect its legitimate interests with all measures including war. It is also defined as any measure aimed at balancing all instruments of foreign policy particularly in terms of arms, diplomacy, information, economics, and other measures of foreign and domestic policy (Kayode, 2013).

For the purpose of this discussion, national security is not only the physical protection of the citizens and territorial integrity, but also the promotion of the economic well-being and prosperity of Nigerians in a safe and secure environment that promotes the attainment of



national interests and those of foreign partners. This means a state or condition where our most cherished values and beliefs, democratic way of life, institution of governance and unity, welfare and well-being, which we face as a nation and a people are permanently protected and continuously enhanced (Ibeneme, 2012). Just as former president Olusegun Obasanjo described it, national security is the ability of Nigeria to advance her interests and objectives, to contain instability, control crime, eliminate corruption, improve the welfare, and quality of life of every citizen (Obasanjo, 1999).

From any perspective, national security is about safeguarding the interest of the citizenry and providing the type of atmosphere that is free of threats that could inhibit the pursuit of the good of all (Mohammed, 2006). It embraces the aggregate of the security interest of all individuals, communities, ethnic groups, political entities and institutions which inhibit a sovereign territory.

In Nigerian, national security has surpassed describing it as freedom from foreign dictation but freedom from disgruntled Nigerians and evil politicians bent on destabilizing the nation for their selfish gains or freedom from violent terror groups and trigger-happy criminals driven into crimes, armed robbery, vandalism, kidnapping and other fraudulent activities (a.k.a. 419) due to greed, illiteracy, ignorance, joblessness and poverty (Ibeneme, 2012). National security in Nigeria, as in most African nations, is not threatened by conventional threats of armed attack by other countries, but by more menacing measures many of which flow from the very weakness of the state and its absence of control over its own territory. Nigeria presents the “shell” of the territorial state where national security is equated with that of the governing elite — governing in the interests of their own preservation and advancement with limited provision of human security for their citizenry. Such states are variously described as weak quasi-states, intermediate states or predatory states (Workshop on Human Security in West Africa, 2001; cited in Aituaje, 2013).

Ayobami (2000) noted that the Nigerian ruling elites lack the kind of philosophical and ideological vision and orientation that is committed to developing “dream society” since they have no dream beyond the satisfaction of their political desires. This explains why the former chairperson of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mrs. Farida Waziri in a press briefing in Novermber 2011, described corruption as the biggest threat to the national security of Nigeria. It is no longer news that corruption denies the masses of Nigeria of the needed funds to improve education, healthcare, infrastructure and other social amenities. The youths and the employable are therefore cheated and their future either mortgaged or encumbered. While some are frustrated and manage to live within the sphere that they have created for themselves, others embrace crime and criminality as represented by armed robbery, cultism, prostitution and stealing by false pretense among other vices; yet a sizeable percentage are also indoctrinated to embrace extremism and



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terrorism (Kayode, 2013). So many riots that result in destruction of lives and property in various parts of the country have their roots in illiteracy and idleness.

The Nigerian security issues pertain more to the people and national development rather than the military and territorial defense. National Bureau of Statistics, NBS (2012) recorded that since 2009, more than 104 foreign nationals have been kidnapped in Nigeria. Off course we dare not talk about Nigerian citizens that have been kidnapped since it has turn to a daily occurrence. Imagine in a State where bandits invade a police station, disarm the police in a broad day light and hold the police in hostage for about an hour while attacking a bank just about 100 meters from the police station. This incident took place on 15th October 2013 at Makarfi divisional police station in Kaduna State (naijapals.com, 2013a). The same naijapals.com (2013b) reported that a businessman was killed in Lagos for refusing to settle area boys. These security challenges have the very damaging consequence of giving the signal to the rest of the international community that Nigeria is not a safe and secure place and as such not suitable for economic investment and activities. Insecurity is a risk factor which investors all over the world dread, as security uncertainty is not only considered a bad omen for business, it sends warning signals to investors to take their investible fund to another country where there is adequate or semblance of security. United States said Nigeria has got a lot of anti- terrorism issues on hand (Ifedigbo, 2011). For instance, the U. S. Department of States Bureau of Consular Affairs in a press release dated 12 January 2012 reported:

The Department of State warns U.S. citizens of the risks of travel to Nigeria, and continues to recommend U.S. citizens avoid all but essential travel to the Niger Delta States of Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers; the Southeastern States of Abia, Edo, Imo; the city of Jos in Plateau state, Bauchi and Borno States in northeast; and the Gulf of Guinea because of the risk of Kidnapping, robbery, and other armed attacks in these areas. Violent crime committed by individuals and gangs, as well as by persons wearing police and military uniforms, remains a problem throughout the country.

The average watcher of the political economy of Nigeria would be forced to believe that violence is the only language that the managers of the State listen to. It is only when you take up arms against the State like the Niger Delta militant and the Boko Haram that you seem to be taken seriously. What has happened to the series of white papers and reports of numerous panels and tribunals? Hence, if violence is the only language, will these insurgences ever come to an end? In the view of this paper it is doubtful because the rising per cent of the unemployed and deprived population is not helping matters. When individuals are in poverty condition and not educated, several problems emerge in the community, ranging from disease, malnutrition, crime, violence to deaths, which threatens national security. This calls for an innovative and creative approach to addressing the



national security issues in Nigeria, which in the opinion of this paper is Youth Empowerment.

Youth EmpowermentYouths are at times referred to as young people. National policy on Youth Development (NPYD) referred to youth as any individual who is a citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria between the ages of 18 – 35 years. Human beings at this stage of life are very active, full of energy and always prepared to contribute to whatever is being addressed. They want to be recognized and involved in taking decisions on their future. They are both mentally and physically alert and enjoy expending their packed energy. What they want most is enabling environment to make meaningful contributions. They need to be empowered. Empowered youths have freedom of choice and action which enables them to better influence the course of their lives and decisions which affect them.

Empowerment is the process of enhancing the capacity of individuals or groups to make choices and to transform those choices into desired actions and outcomes. Central to this process are actions which both build individual and collective assets, and improve the efficiency and fairness of the organizational and institutional context which govern the use of these assets. In essence empowerment speaks to self-determined change. It implies bringing together the supply and demand sides of development – changing the environment within which poor people live and helping them build and capitalize on their own attributes. The four key elements of empowerment that must underlie institutional reform

are: access to information, inclusion and participation, accountability, local organizational capacity (PovertyNet, 2013).

Youth empowerment means different things to different people. In Nigeria it is mostly ill-defined and wrongly perceived by parents, the youth themselves and the government. Parents as major stakeholders often perceive youth empowerment as the sole responsibility of the government. The youth themselves neglect self-development and empowerment, wholly depending on white-collar jobs; while the government sees youth empowerment as an avenue to initiate policies and programmes although the programmes make little impact on the youths’ lives because they are soon hijacked by corrupt government officials for self-aggrandizement (Ahmed, 2013).

Youth empowerment simply means all positive efforts taken deliberately towards improving the lives of young people; efforts channeled towards developing the capacities of young ones to draw out the best out of them, bearing in mind that they are truly leaders of tomorrow. It embeds efforts from parents, youths and the government to develop young people attitudinally and creating conducive atmosphere for realisation of aspirations which will translate into reduction in youth unemployment, criminality, human capital flight and above all national development (Ahmed, 2013).



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Every youth looks forward to the day he/she will start working, rent or build his/her house and raise his/her own family. He or she looks forward to be empowered to achieve the desires. This cannot be adequately achieved by giving them gifts of motor cycles to commit suicide with or guns to protect the giver and kill the challengers. Kayode (2013) observed that the mobilization of youths into ethnic militias not only provide certain services that are ordinarily the responsibility of government such as security, they have in a way formed a protection block for the respective group that they represent. With over 250 linguistic groups, it is therefore not difficult for clashes to take on ethnic dimension as was the case the Berom vs. Hausa-Fulani recurrent conflict in Jos, Plateau State. Thus what youths want are appropriate work skills, attitude and knowledge to gain employment or be self-employed and earn their daily living while contributing to the development of the state and the nation. That is, skills that will enable them to bring about some end result with maximum certainty and minimum outlay of time and energy. In essence, empowerment will equip youths with the capabilities to:

Make decision of their own Access information and resources for taking proper decision Have a range of options for which they can make choices Exercise assertiveness in collective decision making Have positive thinking on the ability to make change Learn skills for improving one’s personal or group power Change others’ perceptions by democratic means Involve in the growth process and changes that is never ending and self-initiating Increasing ones’ ability in discreet thinking to sort out right and wrong

These capabilities that can empower youths are the tasks of Technical, Vocational Education and Training (TVET).

Concept and forms of TVET relevant to Youth Empowerment

In terms of definition, ever since TVET was used in the annals of educational history, it seems to convey different things to different people. To some, TEVT is the total education program by which man learns about work. While others refers to it as that aspect of education tailored towards enhanced productivity of the labour force. While perceptions about TVET may vary, it should be recognized that TVET is greater than any definition one may wish to give it; its scope is extremely broad that it touches all aspect of education by which one learns how to work and is directly linked with a nation’s productivity and competitiveness. No wonder Thompson (2012) said that TVET properly understood is not a career but the application of skills to support life.

In this discussion TVET refers to those aspects of educational processes involving, in addition to general education, the study of technologies and related sciences, as well as the



acquisition of practical skills, attitudes, understandings and knowledge relating to occupations in various sectors of economic and social life (UNESCO, 2003; FRN, 2004). TEVT is meant to impart knowledge and skills for increased efficiency in the world of work, sustainable livelihoods, personal empowerment and socio-economic development, which enhances proper adjustment in knowledge economies and rapidly changing work environment. Thus TVET is all embracive comprehensive education and training program, involving lifelong learning, responsible citizenship, and the promotion of environmentally sound development and social transformation.

For developing nations, the concept of TVET outlined by Cedefop (2008) that encompasses initial and continuous educational training seems to be appropriate. It includes vocational education and training carried out before entering working life and the education or training that comes in after entry into working life and aims to help people to (a) improve or update their knowledge and/or skills; (b) acquire new skills for a career move or retraining; and (c) continue their personal or professional development. TVET takes the following forms that are relevant to youth empowerment.

Pre-employment Technical Vocational Education and Training TVET: As the name suggests pre-employment TVET prepares individuals for the initial entry into employment. In Nigeria, the oldest form of this type of vocational education took place in traditional settings as apprenticeship. At that time, specialized skills like blacksmith, basket and mat making, carving, medical practices like bone setting and so on ran in families. Under that system, young members of society were gradually inducted into the trades of their older family members, first by imitation and later by deliberate apprenticeship during which all necessary work attitudes and skills were transmitted from the master craftsmen to youngsters under them. With the advent of western education, traditional apprenticeship was complimented with structured TVET in vocational enterprise institutes (VEIs), Technical Colleges, Mono/Polytechnics, Universities and work places.

Upgrade training: This form of TVET provides additional training for individuals who are already employed, as their jobs change, and/or as technology and work environment become more complex. Upgrade training is also required if employees advance within the company or organization. The focus in upgrade training is to provide work attitude, knowledge and skills that can enable an individual already working to continue to retain his job or advance on the basis of the demands of the calling. Good examples from Nigeria’s technical, vocational education and training are the trainings offered by the defunct Nigerian Railways Corporation, Oshodi, Lagos, Nigeria’s Post and Telecommunication and the on-going Information and Communication Technology (ICT) trainings currently going on in the banking sector to help workers cope with the demands of e-commerce introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).



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Retraining: Retraining as a mode of TVET provides training for individuals who have lost their jobs so that they can find new ones. Retraining is also required for individuals who seek new careers to develop the necessary competences for employment. The key difference between pre-employment training and retraining is that individuals in retraining programmes have already had a labour-market experience but what clientele are learning may not have a direct connection with the occupation they already have. For example, a bus driver in Abuja that is forced to learn welding as a result of Federal Government policy to ban the operation of small commercial buses popularly known as “Araba” in Abuja Municipal Council. Or an air hostess that leaves the job to be trained in hospitality industry.

Remedial Vocational Education and Training: Grubb and Ryan (1999) identified this form of TVET as one that provides education and training for individuals who are in some way marginal or out of the mainstream labour force and are typically not employed for a long period of time or who do not have any labour- market experience. Governments all over the world that are sensitive to the plight of their citizens usually place this category of people on public income until they are sufficiently trained to earn a living.

Why Youth Empowerment must be taking Serious as a Strategy for National Security

Some common measures that have been taken to ensure national security as stipulated by Wikipedia (2012) included:

Using diplomacy to rally allies and isolate threats Marshaling economic power to facilitate or compel cooperation Maintaining effective armed force Implementing civil defence and emergency preparedness measures (including anti-

terrorism legislation) Ensuring the resilience and redundancy of critical infrastructure Using intelligence services to detect and defeat or avoid threats and espionage, and

to protect classified information Using counterintelligence services or secret police to protect the nation form

internal threats

You can agree with this paper that these measures have not, will not and will never address adequately the national security challenges peculiar to Nigeria. Security in whatever form is a standard measurement of the viability of any state or nation. A state of insecurity means that the society concerned is on red alert and that a risk factor has been identified which must be contained. This largely may involve military and non-military activities. All nations have the right under international law to secure their territorial space and protect their citizens from any imminent attack in whatever form (Aituaje, 2013). Such attack is not limited to external rivalry or internal violence, insurgence, injustice, and other



fraudulent activities; but also such attacks as posed by hunger, poverty, disease, natural disaster, unemployment, climatic change, etc. Therefore national security is not exclusively the responsibility of the law enforcement or security agencies, rather a collective national responsibility and venture. However for any citizen to properly participate in national security, he/she must be properly empowered to do so.

Good number of the Nigerian population falls under the youth age bracket. As mentioned earlier in this paper, this group age possess great potentials and are very active and eager to expend their packed energy. This simply implies that they will expend their talents on any available opportunity, positive or negative, depending on the opportunity most easily accessible. This is further buttressed in the assertion of Ahmed (2013), which stated that considering their strength, creativity, potentials and their tendencies, not only will they outlive today’s leaders they will outshine them; and will be great assets to any nation if their energies and

creativity are tapped and utilized. On the other hand, considering their large population, strength and exuberance they could pose a great threat to a nation if their empowerment is neglected.

Youth empowerment will not only checkmate hunger, poverty, disease and unemployment that threaten national security, but also reduce drastically the number of youths that participate in social vices, as well as increase their awareness for environmental sustainability factors. It is disheartening to observe that the youths are facing myriad of challenges. Youths who dropped out of school, even those who managed to pass through, lack skills to compete in the weak economy and tight labour market. They are found everywhere loitering around from dawn to dusk while battling with crushing unemployment. We must not forget that the popular maxim, “the idle hand is the devil’s workshop” still holds very correct, as desperation and idleness often lead young people to fall prey to criminal gangs, political violence, militancy, prostitution, internet scam or extremism. To buttress this point further, this is an extract from a letter written by Warri boys to President Goodluck Jonathan on ASUU strike:

… Una say make we bone kidnapping, militant things and all the bad bad things go enter school, now na una com dey fuk up. All the things wey them lecturers don teash us for klass we don forget am finish. Last last, na una go still call us “half-baked”, “half-roasted”, abi na “half-fried”. Na una sabi…. If u no shake bodi fast make u no forget say university of militancy still dey admit. Dey neva release 2nd batch ooo! (Tundeola.com, 2013: Sunday October 6)

While accepting the various explanations for the emergence of youths’ unhealthy groups, it is pertinent to stress that many of them are political just as they are economical. Particularly from the economic point of view, violence which is often made easy when there is large scale poverty has been adopted by the sponsors of militant groups to show



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their distaste for the happenings in the country. Even as their methodology remains condemnable and to say the least wicked, the point must be made that their perpetrators are mainly from the poorest of the poor. With wide spread of poverty in the country, it becomes easy for unscrupulous politicians and religious fundamentalists to hijack the army of unemployed youths and employ them for the most unholy of all human endeavours. The simple implication of this scenario is that even when the current insurgences are eliminated through amnesty or through force, there remains another millions of potential militants who are willing and able to be recruited by the highest bidder. Simply put as long as there remains poor and uneducated youths in the country, the threat of terrorists’ outburst under the guise of groups such as the ‘Maitatsine’ (which translates “He Who Curses Others”) or Boko Haram (which translates “Education is forbidden) or MASSOB, or OPC or MEND etc. will continue to be a recurring possibility (Kayode, 2013).

The truth is that the unemployment level in Nigeria remains a dangerous one to the extent that even countries that witnessed the Arab Awakening did not have such high level of unemployment. We should therefore be weary of the argument that says that deprivation breeds violence and lawlessness (Kayode, 2013).

Why do we think that some nations like China, Japan, India and the European countries are stable and flourishing despite their huge population and challenges? It is because they can feed their population and at the same time grow their economy to foster their national security. Nigeria can also do the same. Let there be food on the table of every Nigerian first and foremost, to reduce the tension and scrambling across the nation (Mu’azu, 2012).

It has been demonstrated from the foregoing discussion that securing Nigeria is not merely about physical protections or strategies that reinforce fear and isolation. We have also seen that Nigeria is not made more secure merely by anti-bomb or anti-terrorist barriers or by subjecting the people to checks that curtail their freedoms or violate their fundamental rights. Neither are we made more secure by curtailing movement of visitors, investors, lawful migrants or too many check points in different parts of our country (Mu’azu, 2012). It is therefore time for us to turn to youth empowerment programmes as provided by TVET. Youth empowerment is a veritable tool for government to control crime and maintaining peace in a nation. Youth empowerment will indeed be a good strategy and tool for tackling crimes, ensuring peace and stability, and harnessing youth talents towards national development (Ahmed, 2013).

The place of TVET in Youth Empowerment for National SecuritySecurity is one of the basic needs of human, so everyone craves for it. For this reason national security is seen as the primary task of every sovereign state. From the ongoing discourse, one can confidently claim that national security (especially internal) cannot be adequately achieve through building strong law enforcement/security agencies or



measures at the expense of empowering the populace. If poverty, hunger, unemployment, environmental adverse conditions, injustice, violence and other frauds are considered threat to national security, then youth empowerment is an indispensible measure toward national security.

TVET has been chanted all over the world as a sure and effective strategy for empowerment and building human capital. UNESCO (2004) stated that since education is considered the key to effective development strategies, TVET must be a master key that can alleviate poverty, promote peace, conserve the environment, improve the quality of life for all and help achieve sustainable development. This is in support of the assertion of the former President Olusegun Obasanjo when he stated that TVET with its relevant practical training component holds the key to Nigeria becoming technologically relevant and internationally competitive in the world market. He continued that TVET is also the most effective means of empowering the citizenry to stimulate sustainable national development, enhance employment, improve the quality of life, reduce poverty, limit the incidence of social vices due to joblessness and promote a culture of peace, freedom and democracy (Federal Ministry of Education, 2000).

Nigeria should begin to invest in the future of her citizens by focusing more on mobilizing the youth to engage in occupational skills. Moreover the present dispensation of global economy is prompting governments to take renewed interest in TVET, which is considered as an indispensable means to tackle the many challenges that the rapidly increasing number of unemployed youths are confronted with when it comes to their integration in the labour markets (Maclean & Wilson 2009). In the same vein, FME (2012) claimed that education emphasis the development of individuals who will develop the society; thus commitment to TVET must be strengthened as it is the master key to unlocking the future.

The main purpose of TVET is to provide skilled manpower in applied science, engineering technology and commerce to operate, maintain and sustain a nation’s economic activities for rapid socio-economic development. TVET is designed to impart necessary skills and competencies leading to the production of craftsmen, technicians and technologist who will be enterprising and self-reliant, thus having the greatest potential to generate employment, reduce poverty and eliminate the Area Boy Syndrome (FME, 2009). A renowned professor of Education University of Indonesia, Alwasilah Chaedar, was quoted in BusinessDay (2012) as saying that TVET provided students with life skills to become productive entrepreneurs as it engenders creative and innovative ideas, enlarge the economic pie, and increase personal freedom. Decent and productive employment might be the main pathway out of poverty and the type of work that individuals can access is critical. TVET links skill development policies to employment needs and labour market requirement, especially because the majority of new job opportunities are increasingly found in productive self-employment or work in the informal economy rather than in formal employment



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(Kingombe, 2012). Evidence showed that as enrollment in TVET all over the world increased from 46.6 million in 1999 to 54 million in 2007; the world’s youth unemployment fell slightly from 73.5 million in 1999 to 72.5 million in 2007 (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, UIS, 2009). This fall is equivalent to a fall in the world’s unemployment rate form 12.6% in 1999 to 11.8% in 2007 (ILO, 2011). Cross – country comparisons revealed that the amount of spending on active TVET programs is positively related to unemployment rate (Kingombe, 2012).

Adopting TVET for youth empowerment for national security in any country demands committed initiative by citizens and governments to enhance learning, skill development, entrepreneurship and protection of lives and properties. Nevertheless, despite the public awareness of potentials of TVET, its role is absent to a large extent in most policy documents (Nyerere, 2009). While governments and donor countries have consistently emphasized the need for concerted efforts to build the human assets of the poor, TVET, which holds the master key, has been accorded limited importance in financing. TVET is mired in Nigeria by many challenges. Dike (2005) pointed out that the apparent neglect of TVET in Nigeria is a major factor to the high unemployment, rising restiveness and poverty amongst youths. The question then is what can be done to TVET to adequately empower youths for effective national security?

The way forward

If TVET will be an effective youth empowerment strategy for attaining national security, then any government desiring such must put in place policies and systems to support all forms of TVET (formal, informal, public or private). This will ensure the development of the poor and socially vulnerable classes to whom market mechanism has failed to deliver training to. Considering the indispensible position of TVET in youth empowerment and the great need for youth empowerment suited to labour demand in Nigeria, TVET should be given priority in policy discussions and implementations in the education sector

In other words, for TVET to take its rightful place, there is need for

A policy framework, backed by legislation that makes it mandatory for various levels of government to set aside some percentage of their annual budget for development of TVET

A concerted effort towards the equipment of all TVET institution Ensuring that TVET teacher preparatory programmes are supported A changed attitude towards TVE by all stakeholders

One can quickly state that there is an urgent need to start preparations at the secondary school level, to offer TVET subjects to all students. This is to meet the policy trust under the Universal Basic Education that all students graduating from secondary school must offer



one or two trade courses. This requires that efforts should be made to train and recruit TVET teachers, as a matter of urgent attention, the technical teachers training program (TTTP) should be revamped. Also there is the need to develop and equip school workshops with necessary tools and machines.

Again TVET has to reorient its agenda for action so as to continually provide scientific and technical skills in relevant and responsive programmes; and consequentially develop a new generation of human resources. To realize this, there is need for:

Flexible and industry led curriculum that integrates innovations, vocational and entrepreneurship education that are delivered through multidimensional approach.

Incorporating new education/training technologies into TVET programs Increasing international and regional cooperation to strengthen TVET

Conclusion

In conclusion, we make bold to say that TVET is very crucial and relevant to youths’ empowerment. Youth can only get out of poverty, hunger and crime if they have job skills, knowledge and attitude required by modern job environments. TVET is geared towards preparing youths and adults for the world of work. What TVET demands to achieve its objectives is adequate funding, enabling policy framework, effective implementation, good governance and encouraging public attitude. Youths are therefore called upon to avail themselves of the wonderful opportunities provided by TVET.



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References

Abayomi, S. (2000: 26). Poverty. NGO Newslink Magazine, 21 (1)

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http://www.nigerstate.gov.ng/articles/the-search-for-national-security-in-nigeria-challenges-and-prospects.html

http://www.nigerstate.gov.ng/articles/the-search-for-national-security-in-nigeria-challenges-and-prospects.html

17

TECHNICAL, VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING AND YOUTH EMPOWERMENT FOR NATIONAL SECURITY

BY

PROF. OGO. T. IBENEME FNIM, FNATT, FCISDEAN FACULTY OF EDUCATION

NNAMDI AZIKIWE UNIVERSITY, [email protected]

&

OSINACHI ANTHONY OKORAFORDEPARTMENT OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION

NNAMDI AZIKIWE UNIVERSITY [email protected]

LEAD PAPER PRESENTED

@ THE 26 ANNUAL NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF NIGERIAN ASSOCIATION OF TEACHERS OF TECHNOLOGY (NATT)

@ ABUBAKAR ATIKU AUDITORIUM FEDERAL POLYTECHNIC ADO-EKITI, EKITI STATE

MONDAY 21ST – FRIDAY 25TH OCTOBER, 2013



Documents

TVET & Youth Empowerment for National Security in Nigeria