Posted by On Thursday, the House of Representatives gave final approval to a measure that would create the Federal Institute of Technology and Enterpreneurship at Bungudu in Zamfara State.
By amending the Federal Polytechnic Act, 2004, the bill’s sponsor, Hon. Abdulmalik Zubairu Bungudu, a lawmaker from Zamfara State’s Bungudu/Maru Federal Constituency, hopes to expand the Institute’s curriculum to include courses on technology and entrepreneurship.
The bill’s sponsor provided a thorough evaluation of the legislation’s underlying principles, arguing for the necessity of repositioning the institution through an amendment empowering graduates to engage in greater entrepreneurial activity.
According to him, “This Bill seeks to provide for the establishment of the Federal Institute of Technology and Entrepreneurship Bungudu, Zamfara State, to offer courses and programmes to identify the technology and entrepreneurship problems and needs of Nigeria to provide solutions to them within the context of overall national economic development.”
He regretted the fact that the government could no longer guarantee graduates employment and argued that the only solution was for graduates to become entrepreneurs.
Bungudu, elaborating on the difficulty of finding work, said that the situation is particularly dire in Zamfara, where most people are farmers but who are unable to reach their land because of banditry.
The government just cannot employ all of our young people. Therefore, we must educate and equip our children and all of our residents so that they can generate their own jobs and wealth.
In Zamfara State, for instance, farming is the primary means of subsistence for most families. And with the current level of banditry and insecurity, more than 80% of the farms are unusable.
Following debate, the House agreed to move the bill to a second reading in light of the Institute’s potential to produce entrepreneurial graduates.
The Speaker, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, praised the bill’s sponsor and said that legislation that would advance the economic interests of Nigerians would be swiftly enacted.
After two weeks, the bill will be sent back to the House Committee of the Whole from the Committee on Tertiary Institutions.