KADUNA — The Kaduna State Institute of Vocational Training and Skills Development on Thursday graduated its first set of 4,050 trainees at its Balarabe Musa campus in Rigachikun, Igabi Local Government Area. Governor Uba Sani approved N810 million for the graduates, amounting to N200,000 each, to be paid through the Kaduna State Enterprise Development Agency (KADSEA). The money is meant to help them buy tools, raise working capital, register with professional bodies and cover transport costs. The governor said the state was in talks with industry to secure jobs, apprenticeships, internships and subcontracting opportunities for the graduates, and that a digital platform was being built to link them with employers and track their progress. He said the programme would be judged by the jobs, businesses and incomes it creates rather than by the number of people trained. The graduates hold National Skills Qualification Level II certificates and were named 'Uba Sani Skills Ambassadors'. The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, who was represented by the Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Prof. Idris Bugaje, said Nigeria must stop importing skilled workers such as welders and scaffolders from other ECOWAS and Asian countries. He disclosed that the institute's 14 training manuals, one for each trade area, have been adopted as national documents with the governor's approval. Bugaje said the NBTE had accredited the institute and described its equipment as among the best in the country.