The federal government’s decision to train about 260 Training Service Providers as Quality Assurance Assessors under the IDEAS Project deserves attention beyond the immediate exercise. We believe the quality of Nigeria’s Technical and Vocational Education (TVET) and Training system will depend not only on how many people are trained, but on whether the country can reliably establish what those trainees are capable of doing.
This is particularly important as more than 85,000 trainees are reportedly undergoing training under the IDEAS Project, while other federal government programmes are reaching considerably larger numbers. With thousands of young Nigerians entering vocational programmes, assessment cannot remain a secondary administrative function.
National Project Coordinator of the IDEAS Project, Mrs Blessing Ogwu, captured the issue clearly when she said, “What we are doing now is not just about training. The government also believes strongly in continuous assessment.”
We think this distinction matters. Training provides knowledge and practical exposure, but credible assessment provides evidence of competence. Without that evidence, certificates can become little more than documents that do not adequately communicate a worker’s actual capabilities to employers, customers or financial institutions.
Nigeria’s labour market needs precisely the opposite. Employers need to know whether a carpenter can execute quality work, whether a fashion designer can meet production standards, whether a hospitality worker possesses the required competencies or whether a technician can safely perform a particular task.
The competency-based approach described by Ven. Ighodoro Timothy offers a useful direction. Unlike conventional examinations that can place significant emphasis on theoretical knowledge, competency-based assessment requires trainees to demonstrate their ability to perform specific tasks.
We argue that this practical orientation should become central to Nigeria’s skills development strategy. The purpose of vocational education should ultimately be production, productivity and employability
However, producing assessors is only the beginning. The federal government must ensure that assessment standards are consistent across training centres and that certification has credibility with employers and industry bodies. A qualification that is recognised in one centre but poorly understood in another will do little to improve labour mobility.
The National Skills Qualification framework, with progression from Level One to higher levels of competency, can provide the structure for this. But we urge the relevant institutions to make the qualifications genuinely meaningful by linking them more closely to occupational standards and actual industry requirements.
There is also a broader issue of access. Government is renovating technical colleges and providing tuition-free education in federal technical colleges, while using the National MSME Clinics, traditional media, social media and community institutions to increase awareness of skills programmes. These efforts can expand participation, but participation should not become the principal measure of success.
The real question is what happens after certification.
Can the graduate secure employment? Can the certified artisan obtain finance or equipment to establish a business? Can an employer confidently recruit based on the qualification? Can the worker use the certification to pursue higher levels of competence or opportunities beyond Nigeria?
We believe these outcomes should become part of how TVET programmes are evaluated.
The training of assessors is therefore a necessary investment in the credibility of the wider system. Director of the South-East Zonal Office of the National Board for Technical Education, Engr Dr Ngozi Magret Okelekwe, noted that World Bank-assisted centres had identified a shortage of qualified personnel capable of assessing and certifying learners.
That gap must be addressed systematically. Assessment requires trained personnel, standardised documentation, credible quality assurance and regular monitoring. It also requires industry participation so that what is being assessed remains relevant to changing production methods and workplace demands.
Nigeria cannot afford a TVET system that produces certificates faster than it produces competence. We think the federal government should therefore position certification as the bridge between training and economic opportunity. If the country can build a system in which a vocational qualification is trusted, portable and directly connected to workplace competence, TVET can become a stronger route into employment, entrepreneurship and industrial productivity.
We urge the government to measure this initiative not simply by the number of assessors trained or certificates issued, but by the quality of skills certified and the opportunities those skills subsequently unlock.
