Enang: Nigeria Must Prioritize Skills Over Certificates to Compete Globally
By Imoh Essien (Uyo)
Nigeria’s Ambassador to Germany, Sen. (Dr.) Ita Solomon Enang, OFR, has urged a fundamental shift in the country’s education and employment strategy, saying Nigerians must prioritize skill acquisition over paper qualifications if the nation is to bridge the development gap with advanced economies.
Enang, a former Senior Special Assistant to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, made the call in a statement released on Wednesday. He said his diplomatic experience in Germany has reinforced his conviction that practical skills, not degrees, are driving prosperity in Europe, Asia and the Americas.
According to the Ambassador, the global economy now rewards competence over credentials.
“The least skill one has in any field and can deliver service in carpentry, woodwork, electricals, masonry, the built environment, farming and food processing, culturing and harvesting from the blue economy, the information technology world, tailoring, manufacturing, and indeed any skill at all, places you to earn and be employable more and faster than one with a chain of degrees and multiple layered certificates,” Enang said.
He described this reality as “the whole truth” about economies that are progressing, while lamenting that Nigeria continues to “celebrate certificates without skills.”
Enang faulted Nigeria’s tertiary education system for producing graduates who lack practical, job-ready abilities.
“Even their educational system is tailored towards this while our university and tertiary curriculum still floats and produces unskilled products with documents without employable potentials,” he said.
He cited Germany’s “dual education system,” which integrates classroom instruction with apprenticeships, as a model Nigeria should adopt. He said the system explains why artisans and technicians in developed countries enjoy dignity, job security and competitive pay.
The Ambassador argued that harnessing these sectors would reduce youth unemployment and position Nigeria to benefit from global demand for skilled labor.
He called on the federal and state governments, education stakeholders, parents and young people to embrace Technical and Vocational Education and Training, TVET, and to embed apprenticeships in university and polytechnic programs.
“Please let's just change our education system, because the world has moved away from our strategy,” he said.
The Ambassador’s intervention comes at a time of high graduate unemployment and increased migration of Nigerians abroad.
National Bureau of Statistics data shows a mismatch between the number of graduates and available jobs, even as construction and manufacturing firms continue to import skilled artisans.
Policy analysts say Enang’s position aligns with the Tinubu administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which has prioritized skills development, student loans for vocational training, and funding for technical colleges.
The statement has also generated debate on social media, with many Nigerians agreeing that skills now determine earning power more than degrees.
“A certified plumber in Germany earns more than many graduates here. That is the point the Ambassador is making,” one user wrote on X.
Sen. Enang concluded that for Nigeria to remain competitive, the national focus must shift from “certificate chasing” to “skill building.”
“The future of work belongs to those who can solve problems with their hands, their minds, and technology", he said.
