The National Automotive Design and Development Council, NADDC, on Friday commissioned its Automotive Training Centre on Ogoja Road, Abakaliki, the first such facility to be commissioned by the council in the South-East.
The facility, according to the NADDC Director-General and Chief Executive Officer, Oluwemimo Joseph Osanipin, is designed to strengthen technical skills, promote innovation and entrepreneurship, and prepare young Nigerians for emerging technologies in the rapidly evolving automotive industry.
Speaking at the commissioning, Ebonyi State Governor, Rt Hon rancis Ogbonna Nwifuru, described the centre as a strategic investment in the state's human capital and industrial future, rather than an extension of conventional automobile repair workshops.
“For us, this Centre is not an extension of the regular mechanic site just down there; it is an investment in the future in the automotive technology context,” Nwifuru said.
The governor said the project reflected the convergence of the Federal Government's Renewed Hope Agenda and his administration's People's Charter of Needs, particularly in infrastructure, human-capital development, technology, enterprise development and youth empowerment.
Nwifuru urged youths in the state to take advantage of the facility, stressing that technical education should not be regarded as inferior to conventional academic training.
“Technical knowledge is not inferior knowledge,” he said, adding that trained automobile technicians, automotive engineers and fabricators could become entrepreneurs and employers of labour.
He also invited automobile manufacturers, investors, financial institutions and indigenous entrepreneurs to explore investment opportunities in Ebonyi, particularly in automotive services, component manufacturing, fabrication, vehicle maintenance, diagnostics, electric mobility and technical education.
The Minister of State for Industry, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Senator John Owan Enoh, said the project underscored the Federal Government's commitment to skills development, industrialisation and economic diversification.
Enoh, who said the Ebonyi facility was the first NADDC centre he was commissioning in the South-East, identified skills development as one of the critical requirements for industrial growth.
He said the emergence of electric vehicles and other new automotive technologies made specialised technical training increasingly imperative.
The minister commended the Ebonyi State Government for its support and urged young Nigerians to acquire technical skills that would enable them to create businesses and employment opportunities rather than depend solely on paid employment.
Osanipin said the centre was equipped with modern training tools and facilities for practical and industry-relevant training of youths, technicians, artisans, students, vehicle owners, entrepreneurs and other automotive practitioners.
He said the centre would serve as a hub for automotive skills acquisition, technical innovation, entrepreneurship development, technology transfer and workforce preparation.
According to him, NADDC is also developing an automotive certification framework with different levels of qualification, from Level One to Level Nine, in line with Nigeria's skills qualification framework.
Osanipin said the programme would incorporate emerging technologies, including compressed natural gas, electric vehicles, automotive mechatronics and electronic diagnostics.
He said the facility would support the development of a skilled workforce capable of servicing the automotive, agricultural and industrial equipment sectors across Ebonyi and the wider South-East.
The NADDC boss, however, appealed to the state government to assist in restoring power to the centre, disclosing that the transformer serving the facility had been vandalised.
He stressed that reliable electricity was essential for the operation of the specialised training equipment installed at the centre.
Chairman of the NADDC Governing Board, Chief Emma Eneukwu, commended the Federal and Ebonyi State governments for their collaboration, saying the project demonstrated the Federal Government's commitment to taking development opportunities to different parts of the country.
Eneukwu said the board would continue to provide policy direction and oversight to ensure that NADDC programmes and investments delivered measurable benefits to Nigerians.
Ebonyi State Commissioner for Human Capital Development and Monitoring, Chief Mrs Ann Aligwe, said the centre aligned with the state government's policy of equipping citizens with sustainable skills rather than relying solely on financial empowerment.
She said the facility would provide opportunities for Ebonyi youths and women to acquire technical competencies capable of making them self-reliant and economically productive.
NATIONAL PANEL gathered that the NADDC's mandate includes promoting automotive industrial development, technical skills and infrastructure, local content and support for Nigeria's automotive manufacturing ecosystem.
