By; Sani Aliyu, Kaduna.
The Director-General of Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Dr. Dikko Umaru Radda has said the agency will upgrade the Zaria Industrial Development Centre (IDC) to an international status to produce middle-age cadres of Technician toward the nations’ technological development.
Speaking during his official visit to the first and biggest industrial development centre in the country built over fifty-years ago, Dr. Radda said the agency would not leave the centre to die but would do everything possible to refurbish all the obsolete machineries and renovate the dilapidated structures at the centre.
According to him, the centre which was built by the defunct Northern region in collaboration with the United States of America, and the first among the other two centres in Osun and Owerri would be given a face lift and make sure both private and public organisations send in trainees in the six various fields at the centre which has the capacity of training three hundred trainees within three and six months depending on the course.
He charged the staff of the centre to key into the industrial revolution presently going on in the country and contribute their quota to the running and development of the centre to become self sustaining in the nearest future.
“These machineries which were put in place about 50 years ago would be refurbished and fully put into use to achieve the aims and objectives of the founders,” he added.
Dr. Radda said all the six workshops which included electrical metal and foundry leather works, ceramic, wood-works and automobile would come back on full stream and contribute to the developmental aspirations of the nation, adding that SMEDAN would also ensure participation by either government or private partnership to achieve the desired goals.
“In the meantime, SMEDAN would come in to look into the immediate needs of the centre in order to take off and also present a position paper on the status of the centre to the Minister of Industry for further action,” he added.
The DG was however not happy with the way and manner the centre was abandoned and warned that all hands must be on deck to turn the center around to function effectively.
The coordinator of the Zaria centre, Engr, Umoru Rabiu Karaye had earlier told the Director – General that the centre was also on the lookout for either state government or private partnership to join hands and run it which he described as a specialised centre.
He said the industrial centre when in full operation can train 300 students in various technical knowhow.
Engineer Rabiu Karaye said the centre has 28 staffs and trained only 70 students since 2014 in various fields.
