The National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), has reiterated its commitment to train and empower young talented Nigerians on digital automotive design.
Mr Jelani Aliyu, NADDC’s Director-General, stated this at the closing ceremony of the NADDC/Stallion Bajaj Auto-Keke Group Mechatronics training and empowerment programme on Thursday in Kano.
The programme is designed to expose the trainees on the repairs and maintenance of tricycles and motorcycles.
“We have begun training and empowering young Nigerians on the art and science of digital automotive design.
“We had such training in Sokoto and Owerri, we have just concluded another training in Abuja.
“We are identifying young Nigerians who are creative, we give them the support to learn the skills so that they can begin to produce vehicles that are made in Nigeria.
“They have already started offering such type of services in the automotive industry,” he said.
Aliyu said that the council was charged with the responsibility of ensuring sustainable development of the automotive industry using local human and material resources.
“To achieve this mandate, the council has been promoting auto-engineering training, skills acquisition and capacity building in the auto industry in Nigeria,” he said.
He said that the type of training would address what he called ‘decent work deficit’ in the auto repair sector and make it more efficient.
The training, he said, was aimed at providing solutions to the service and maintenance problems of three-wheeler and two-wheeler vehicles through the production of competent craftsmen who would be enterprising and self-reliant.
Jelani said that the council had so far trained over 12,000 youths on repairs and maintenance of tricycles in the country, adding that the trainees were also provided with working tools and allowances to boost their morale.
One of the beneficiaries, Adamu Abdullahi, commended the gesture.
Abdullahi said that the training had widened his skills that would make him enterprising and employer of labour. nan.
