By Aderogba George
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Akwa Ibom, Engr. Emem Coffie, has urged Nigerian youths not to abandon education in pursuit of quick success.
Coffie gave the advice in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday.
He stressed that education remained essential for career development and national growth.
He said the growing perception that education was a waste of time could undermine youth development, noting that academic knowledge provided a foundation for specialisation and professional competence.
The governorship candidate said he had sponsored hundreds of students in Akwa Ibom, Enugu and Abuja as part of his commitment to education and youth development.
According to him, young people need the right foundation and support to discover their potential and become self-reliant.
Coffie said education had played a significant role in the development of advanced countries and should not be dismissed because some people achieved success without university education.
The engineer, who has about 35 years of professional experience, said academic training was particularly important in technical fields where practical knowledge must be supported by sound understanding of scientific principles.
He said youths seeking to specialise in emerging fields such as robotics must first acquire knowledge of basic sciences and relevant engineering disciplines.
“The truth is that engineering is probably 90 per cent from scientific theory and 10 per cent empirical.
“If you want to be a robotics engineer, for example, you must have an understanding of physics and chemistry.
“You must also have mechanical engineering, electronics engineering and electrical engineering by the corner before you begin to do robotics,” he said.
Coffie called for a system that would enable young people to complete university education early, identify their talents and specialise in their chosen careers without unnecessary delays.
He said early identification of talents would help reduce the time young people spent trying to establish themselves professionally before gaining recognition and opportunities.
The PDP candidate, however, said university education should not be the only pathway to success, urging government to support vocational training, entrepreneurship and other trades.
“Everybody doesn’t need to go to university. That’s why we get everybody wrong, but whatever level, whatever trade you should apply, the government should support you, train you and make you relevant,” he said.
On translating education and skills into employment, Coffie called for greater investment in industrialisation in Akwa Ibom.
He said government should train young people in areas relevant to industries that could be established in the state, including oil and gas, refineries, gas processing facilities and steel plants.
Coffie advocated apprenticeship programmes to prepare youths for employment in such industries, saying participants should receive financial support during their training.
“You begin to prepare them, empower them to programme the way they will learn such skills, and within that period pay them.
“Even if they are doing an apprenticeship scheme, pay them during that period so that you can encourage them to participate in such,” he said.
He also advocated support for small and medium-scale enterprises, including affordable loans to enable traders and entrepreneurs expand their businesses.
Coffie proposed the establishment of cottage industries across the state’s local government areas to create employment, utilise local raw materials and improve residents’ incomes.
He identified palm oil processing and the production of briquettes from palm kernel waste among the opportunities that could support small-scale industries.
The engineer further called for a return to Akwa Ibom’s original development master plan, urging successive administrations to continue projects initiated by their predecessors.
He identified the deep seaport, science park, airport, road network and power plants as projects associated with the state’s development plans.
Coffie said the state needed to revisit its original development priorities and continue projects capable of improving residents’ living conditions.
He argued that road construction alone could not address poverty without industries and businesses capable of providing jobs and sustainable incomes.
Coffie said his proposed development agenda, “A New Drive Back to the Genesis,” would focus on human capital development, industrialisation, skills acquisition and support for small businesses.
“When I say Genesis, let’s go back to that master plan and start to execute it all over again.
“Road construction is interesting but road construction does not put food on the table of people,” he said.(NAN)
Edited by Funmilayo Adeyemi
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