Vice President Kashim Shettima has personally commended Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani for establishing the Kaduna State Council on Skills, describing the initiative as a national benchmark and urging other state governments to adopt the same approach in tackling unemployment and building human capital.

The commendation was conveyed in a formal letter from the Vice President on behalf of the National Council on Skills, which reviewed the initiative at its last session. Shettima praised the Governor's decision to personally chair the State Council, describing it as a move that aligns directly with the federal government's Renewed Hope Agenda. "The council particularly noted your leadership in chairing the State Council, a move that aligns perfectly with the Renewed Hope Agenda and sets a benchmark for other sub national entities," he wrote.

The Vice President went further, describing the Kaduna approach as a vital template for a bottom up model of skills acquisition. "The National Council on Skills views the Kaduna Model as a vital template for the bottom up approach to skills acquisition, which is essential for ensuring that our vocational and technical training initiatives reach the grassroots effectively," he said, urging the governor to maintain momentum and expressing the Council's readiness to collaborate with the Kaduna State Council to harmonise standards and scale the impact of interventions nationwide.

The commendation reflects a broader pattern of institutional investment by the Kaduna State Government in technical and vocational education. Governor Uba Sani has established three state of the art Kaduna State Institutes of Vocational Training and Skills Development, located at Soba, Rigachikun and Samarun Kataf in each of the state's three senatorial zones. The centres are expected to produce 12,000 trained artisans annually, with courses covering welding, aluminium fabrication, fashion design, solar panel installation and other vocational disciplines. Graduates will receive certificates upon completion, with the state government partnering with the National Board for Technical Education to ensure proper certification of all programmes.

Beyond the Institutes, Governor Sani has also announced plans to remodel Panteka Market, which hosts approximately 38,000 artisans working across welding and fabrication, carpentry and joinery, and masonry, into a fully functional industrial hub.

For young Nigerians who fall outside the conventional University pathway, the Kaduna model offers a concrete alternative: structured vocational training, nationally recognised certification and an industrial ecosystem designed to absorb the skills being produced. If replicated across other states, it is precisely the kind of grassroots intervention that could begin to meaningfully shift Nigeria's unemployment numbers.