The Federal Government is deliberately scaling back its emphasis on paper qualifications and redirecting focus toward practical skills acquisition, the Registrar of the National Business and Technical Examinations Board, Dr Mohammed Aminu Mohammed, has said. He made the remarks on Monday while speaking with journalists during a monitoring visit to the 2026 NABTEB NBC/NTC examinations at the Government Technical College, Kano.

Mohammed stated that the goal of the initiative was to reposition Nigerian graduates as job creators rather than job seekers, addressing the country's unemployment challenges through hands on competence. "The era we are moving into is one driven by skills, so that I do not need to depend on anybody to give me a job. There must be something I can do on my own to earn a living. That is where we are headed," he said.

The registrar was emphatic that formal academic titles were no longer a prerequisite for economic independence. "You do not need to be a professor or a doctor before you can earn a living. You do not even need to be a journalist before you can make a living because there are other legitimate ways to earn an income. That is the direction the world is going today. Once you have a skill, you become self reliant, you can employ others, and, where necessary, you can also be employed. We are trying to reduce the excessive emphasis on paper qualifications," he added.

Mohammed noted that the administration of President Bola Tinubu was making deliberate efforts to promote technical and vocational skills development across the country, stressing that Nigeria could no longer afford to fall behind other nations in this regard.

On the performance of the ongoing examinations, the registrar expressed satisfaction with a notable rise in candidate registrations. The number of candidates sitting for the examinations increased from 92,260 nationwide in the previous year to 100,000 this year. "There is a huge improvement compared to what we have had over the years. Students are becoming more interested in technical subjects, knowing fully well that there is no shortcut to economic development," he stated.

Mohammed also observed a shift in parental attitudes toward technical education. "Every parent now wants their children to attend technical schools compared to what we had before," he noted.

The 2026 NABTEB May/June NBC/NTC examinations commenced nationwide on June 15, 2026, and are expected to conclude on July 13, 2026.