Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano state, has appealed to the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation’s Investment and Technology Promotion Offi ce, UNIDO-ITPO, to assist the state to actualise its garment clusters across the 44 local government areas of the state. “Already, we have about 4, 400 industrial sewing and knitting machines together with accessories in our local government areas, and we require your assistance to get them working so that our youths can get something to do,” he stated. He made the call while receiving a delegation from UNIDO-ITPO, who visited him at the Government House, saying the facilities were available for inspection and advice on how to put them into optimum use.
Th e governor explained that it was the desire of his administration to help youths and women to acquire skills in order to turn the nation’s economy around, reiterating that in the process, strong institutions must also be developed to make the set goals achievable. In this response, Governor Ganduje explained that his administration was constructing a multi-billion Naira Skills Acquisition Centre to train youth in at least 24 identifi ed skills, as part of eff orts to fi ll the gap in the manpower needs of the state. In his remarks, the Senior Specialist, Investment Promotion Division at UNIDO, Vienna, Mr. Stanislaw Pigon, said they were in Kano to conduct a workshop for youth titled “Investment and Technology Promotion for the Non-oil Sectors of Nigeria: Innovative Solutions for Improving Financial Literacy of Youth Entrepreneurs.” Also speaking, the Head, UNIDO Investment and Technology Promotion Offi ce, Nigeria, Mrs. Adebisi Olumodimu, said the primary target of the capacity building programme was to encourage youth in Kano to become economically independent. Meanwhile, Governor Ganduje received a delegation of newly recruited indigenes of Kano that completed training into the Nigerian Air Force. While congratulating them, he stressed the need for them to be dedicated to national service, assuring that his administration would assist them “whenever the need arises.”