By Auwal Ahmed Ibrahim Goronyo
If you knew the old NBTE of the past four years and the new NBTE of today, a look at the Kaduna state NBTE Headquarters along the Bida Road, would convince you that a committed administrator was appointed to use his intellect, foresight and like-minded team members to achieve a stated vision.
Not just the NBTE at the Kaduna has been touched with an art of goldsmith, but Professor Idris M. Bugaje, the Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education, has laid a legacy foundation for a better future for polytechnics and technical education in Nigeria.
Like the African proverb says, ‘give work to the man that knows it best, and you will not have a reason to complain’. Prof. Idris M. Bugaje is a light that shines in every place he works. He is a goal scorer and a vision maker whose passion is to deliver the best he can and this is why he is loved by a teeming people in Nigeria. He has magnanimous supporters that admire him with respect and praise him like a king of a kingdom, all because, he is generous and God-fearing person, non-tribalistic but a nationalist whose effort is to make Nigerians to understand the reasons for their differences and use them for Nigeria’s growth.
Before coming to NBTE, Professor Idris M. Bugaje had worked from grass to grace and started his work career journey as a corps member in 1980 – 1981, served at Warri Refinery and was involved with general crude petroleum refining operations after which he joined he Nigerian paper Mill Ltd, Jebba, Kwara State. In 1983 -1988 Prof. Bugaje worked with the Energy Research Centre, University of Sokoto, Asst. Res Fellow, later Research Fellow II.
Prof. Idris M. Bugaje joined the teaching league in 1988 at Kaduna Polytechnic, as Lecturer I and later Senior Lecturer & Head of Dept of Chemical Engineering, and left for the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in 1995 as a Senior Lecturer & University Coordinator, Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme [SIWES]. Being an international academic, he joined the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Lecturing Contract, Faculty of Engineering from 1997 – 1999. Rejoined the services of the reputable Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria from 1999 – 2000 as a Reader/Assoc. Professor in Chemical Engineering.
Having been appointed for a national assignment in 2000 as the Rector of the Federal Polytechnic, Nasarawa, Prof. Idris M. Bugaje set a good precedent of leadership and remarkable achievements. After that, he worked with the University of Johannesburg, South Africa, in the Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Process and Mechanical Engineering, Doorfontein Campus, UJ. Later, came back to Nigeria and worked with the University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri-Nigeria as a Professor of Chemical Engineering and later Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Unimaid from 2008 – 2011.
Professor Idris. Bugaje was appointed the Director General of the National Research Institute for Chemical Technology (NARICT), Basawa, Zaria, Nigeria, in 2011. After completing 5 years in NARICT, he went to the Centre for Renewable Energy Research, Umaru Musa Yar’adua University, Katsina, and taught two UG Courses in Industrial Chemistry at the same University. Appointed in 2017 to 2021 as the Rector of Kaduna Polytechnic, Kaduna. Spending about 4 years in the service of Kaduna Polytechnic, he was appointed the Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education, NBTE.
His coming to NBTE was a blessing, an anointment for restructuring and dream accomplishment. As a visionary leader he tailored the path of progress for the staff, stakeholders and institutions aligned to the NBTE Board.
Working under two presidents, Professor Idris M. Bugaje has taken the NBTE Board to the next level and is now renewing the hope of the Board towards a prospective change in the technical education sector. Under him, skills are being revived in the formal and non-formal sectors while reducing the high number of out-of-schools children in the county. This vision is a good mechanism of reducing insecurity issues in the country.
His first major achievement at the NBTE was the establishment of six Zonal Offices of the NBTE as well as the new NBTE Consult Ltd. Others include the reactivation of the Centre of Excellence sponsored by UNESCO.
In his passion to reduce unemployment and sharpen skills, the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) in partnership with ERYK group sent 27 sets of ND students to Denmark and Poland for work and skills development. The Nigerian Youth Skills Empowerment (NYSE) programme is set to sponsor 1000 students for such a program in 10 years. This is a vision to reduce illegal sub-Saharan migration from Nigeria. The NBTE has also partnered with Morocco on skills development and has sent many artisans to the country for skills training.
Through partnership with the World Bank, TETFund and assistance from the Federal Government of Nigeria, the NBTE has reformed the system of education in Nigeria through curricula development and review. New areas of studies were unearthed in the polytechnics system and National Occupational Standards have been developed to formalize the Nigerian skills informal sectors to renew the hope of the country’s skills sector.
Progressive line has been drawn for the technical education and polytechnics staff who are now enjoying the dividends of Renewed Hope. With opportunities of training and retraining, the NBTE staff are getting the needed talent to work effectively with quantum experiences, and the NBTE Board is partnering with China to revamp skills in Nigeria.
No doubt, the right person has gotten the opportunity to reshape the National Board for Technical, NBTE to its position and the achievements would never be forgotten in the history of the Board and Nigerians in the technical education sector.
Auwal Ahmed Ibrahim, Goronyo is a staff of Kaduna Polytechnic, Kaduna, can be reached via auwalgoronyo@gmail.com