The Federal Government has inaugurated the Sector Skills Council on Construction (SSCC) with the core mandate of tackling the skills and productive needs of the industry.
Mrs Boade Akinola, Director, Press and Public Relations Unit, Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, made this known in a statement in Abuja on Friday.
Akinola while quoting the Minister of State for Works and Housing, Mr Abubakar Aliyu, who performed the inauguration, said it would address the skills gap.
Aliyu pointed out that the establishment of the council was a deliberate decision of the Federal Government to address the challenges of skills gap, skills supply, skills quality and skills demand of the building sector in the construction industry.
The Minister spelt out the scope of their mandate to include: Establishment and maintenance of strategy for the coordination and incorporation of emerging trends in skills development and development of competency standards and qualifications.
He listed others as developing a sector skill development plan and maintenance of skill inventory, productivity improvement and consistency in reducing skills gaps and shortages.
“The council is also expected to inherit the National Occupational Standards in some critical trades, a labour market information system and a secretariat with modest personnel from the Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria (CORBON),’’ he added.
The Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Babangida Husseini, enjoined members of the newly inaugurated Council to justify the confidence reposed in them by their appointment.
Husseini also urged them to think out ways the sector could reduce the problem of youth unemployment.
He commended the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola and the Minister of State for the various intervention programmes they had introduced towards the attainment of the Ministry’s mandate.
Also, Chairman, Inauguration Committee of the SSCC, Dr Samson Opaluwa, disclosed that the National Board for Technical Education would start implementing and regulating the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF) in Nigeria in 2014.
Opaluwa revealed that in constituting the SSCC, deliberate efforts were made to ensure the representation of a broad spectrum of the stakeholders in the construction industry.
Chairman of the newly inaugurated Council, Gianfranco Albertazzi, who is also joint Managing Director, Borini Prono & Co Nig. Ltd. pledged the council’s readiness to take up the task.
He, therefore, called for the support of stakeholders both from the government and private sector to achieve their mandate.
Members of the SSCC are drawn from the Federation of the Construction Industry (FOCI), representatives of Artisans, Indigenous Contractors, one from each geo-political zone and Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN).
Others are representatives of National Institute of Building (NIOB), Representatives of training providers, one from each geo-political zone, Facilities Management Consultants, Builders Structure Consultants and Service Consultants, among others.
Author: News Agency Of Nigeria
