The Vice President of Nigeria, Senator Kashim Shettima will visit Nasarawa State tomorrow, Friday 3rd, 2025 for a one- day working visit.
During the visit, the VP will attend the graduation ceremony of 1280 persons trained on various skills at the Wing Commander Abdullahi Ibrahim Vocational and Technology Institute in Lafia, the State capital.
He will also lay foundation for the construction of the Nasarawa State Investment Development Agency (NASIDA), distribute relief materials to flood disaster victims and flag off the distribution of tractors to farmers across the state among other activities lined up for the official visit.
Speaking at a Press briefing today, Thursday, at the Nigeria Union of Journalists ( NUJ) Press Centre in Lafia, the Executive Director of the Institute, Dr Daniel Asele said the institute has trained the graduands on forty different contemporary and marketable skills for the past three months.
According to him, the trainees were trained on skills such as wielding and fabrication, auto mobile engineering, Information and Communication Technology ( ICT), tailoring and fashion designing among others.
“Out of the 1128 trainees, a good number were sponsored by His Lordship, Bishop Matthew Kukah who had partnership with the institute and brought the beneficiaries from Sokoto State.This is because we have hostels to accommodate trainees from outside the State.
“Also , Her Excellency , the First Lady of Nasarawa State, Hajiya Silifat Sule sponsored 130 women across the 13 local government areas of the State,” he said.
He further stated that, 167 youths were sponsored by the Wives of members of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly among other sponsors, expressing hope that the VP will present all of them with certificates as graduands of the institute having passed their examinations.
He, appreciated Governor Abdullahi Sule for providing the Institute with the necessary support to enable it function effectively.
Also speaking, Commissioner for Special Duties, Humanitarian Service and NGOs, Princess Margaret Elayo, said Senator Shettima as part of his visit to the State will also distribute relief materials to residents of the State who were displaced by floods last year.
Elayo explained that through the VP’s assistance, the state government has been able to access funds from the Ecological funds to reconstruct roads and bridges destroyed during the flood disaster and has also constructed new drainage systems to avoid further occurrence in the affected areas.
” The state government had already distributed some relief materials to victims of the natural disaster, however, a list of 1845 persons who were mostly affected would be given food items and building materials to enable them rebuild what was lost, which is under the care of the Nasarawa State Emergency Management Agency that is under my ministry” she added.
She, therefore, appreciated the VP and Governor Sule for prioritising the humanitarian needs of the people and appealed for sustenance.
On his part, the State Commissioner for for Local Government, Community Development and Chieftaincy Affairs, Hon Mohammed Iyimoga said the State government had keyed into President Bola Tinubu’s food security programme and has cultivated and harvested over 10,000 bags of rice to enhance food security.
Iyimoga said, part of it would be distributed to local government areas while the remaining fraction would be stored for the next planting season.
He further stated that the state government has procured tractors to encourage mechanised farming , saying that Senator Shettima will also perform the flag off of the distribution to local government areas in the State during his visit.
On his part, the Managing Director/CEO, Nasarawa Investment Development Agency (NASIDA), Barr Ibrahim Abdullahi said the VP will further lay the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the Agency’s one-stop investment centre.
He said the construction of the one stop Investment centre would warehouse the headquarters of NASIDA and coordinate all economic and investment promotion initiatives, among others in the state.
