The Digital Bridge Institute, DBI on Wednesday, 13th June 2024 hosted the vent of the inauguration of the ICT Sector Skills Council of the Nigerian Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF). A Sector Skills Council is mandated with the responsibility of Identifying skill development needs in a particular field and developing a set of standards that skill requirement that match and validate industry requirements for that field. The council was inaugurated by the Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education, Professor Idris M. Bugaje.

L-R Engr. Habu Mustapha, Managing Director Engausa Tech Hub, Kano. Dr. Muh’d Aliyu National Pres. Nigerian Computer Society. Mr. Shola Oshilaja, Managing Director, NIIT Nigeria.
The Executive Secretary NBTE, Prof. Idris M. Bugaje. Muhammed Mustapha, Managing Director, Hypertech Nigeria Limited, and Mohammed Bilyaminu Musa, ICT Skill Sector Desk Officer (NBTE-NSQF)

Prof. Idris M. Bugaje in his opening remarks, stated that the Nigerian Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF) was a system for the development, classification, and recognition of skills, knowledge, understanding, and competencies acquired by individuals, irrespective of where and how the training or skill is acquired. He added that “the system gives a clear statement of what the learner must know or be able to do. Whether the training took place in a classroom, on the job, or less formally.”

Ag.PDBI Ms. Viola Askia-Usoro during the opening remarks.

He stressed further that the framework indicates the comparability of different qualifications and how one can progress from one level to another as the NSQF was the structure within which the National Occupational Standards Operate for its sector. The inaugurated members of the ICT Sector Skills Council of the National Skills Qualification Framework are the Nigerian Communications Commission, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Nigerian Data Protection Commission (NDPC), Digital Bridge Institute, Huawei Technologies, NIIT, CISCO Networking Academy, Engausa Global tech Hub Ltd, HyperTech Nigeria Limited, Nigeria Computer Society and the Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria. Mr. Shola Oshilaja of NIIT was elected as the ICT-SSC Chair.

The Chief Host of the Event; Acting President/Chief Executive Officer of the Digital Bridge Institute Ms. Viola Askia-Usoro in her opening remark stated that the NSQF is a set of well-defined guidelines that clearly outlines the skills, ability, quality metrics, knowledge, and performance an individual should possess to validate his competence in a particular role. She described the occasion as proof that the federal government and the National Board of Technical Education are committed to entrenching the strategic shift from theoretical knowledge to the skills-based approach of knowledge validation in a competitive field like ICT.

She concluded by appreciating all stakeholders present at the event and expressed a sincere desire of the Digital Bridge Institute that the event catalyze the fostering of collaboration between industry stakeholders, academia, and government in the ICT sector.

She said, “We are indeed grateful to our parent body the Nigerian Communication Commission for their continued support of the Digital Bridge Institute and the National Board for Technical Education for its drive towards developing measures that would help imbed technical skills development as a national culture.”

Signed:
Akin Ogunlade
Head, Public Affairs Unit
Digital Bridge Institute
June 13th 2024