The Federal Government has trained 86 technicians in Gombe State on the repair and maintenance of tricycles and motorcycles.
The government also plans to establish an automotive training centre in the state to empower more technicians in the Northeast region.
Mr. Jelani Aliyu, the Director-General, National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), stated this in his virtual address at the closing of the training on Friday in Gombe.
Aliyu said the training was an intervention to develop capacities in repair and maintenance of tricycles and motorcycles.
He said it was done in collaboration with SIMBA Group.
Aliyu said the series of training for tricycles and motorcycles technicians across the country was in response to the call to address the rising cases of accidents involving tricycles, motorcycles and other vehicles.
He added that such road crashes had resulted in loss of lives and property.
The director general said that latest technological trend in automobile repair and maintenance was employed in conducting the skills upgrade training for the technicians.
According to him, such trainings had been successfully hosted in Abuja, and Kaduna State.
He said that no fewer than 5, 000 technicians had benefited from the training since it began in 2012.
Aliyu stated that those trained in the past were now better individuals with skills in “a very interesting and important sector – the automotive sector.”
He said it was important to know that technology in the auto sector advances continually as motorcycles and tricycles are now built with some electronically controlled systems.
“The only way to meet up with this advancement is training and re-training.”
Earlier, Mr. Nua Omisanya, the Director of Industrial Infrastructure Department, NADDC, said that to deepen technicians’ capacities in Gombe and Northeast, the council would establish an automotive training centre in the state.
Omisanya said it was part of the mandate of the council to continually train technicians in the repair and maintenance of motorcycles and tricycles.
He said that this was with a view to mitigate crashes and empower technicians.
Mr. Ibrahim Maigari, a student of technical education at the automotive unit of the Federal College of Education, Technical, Gombe, described the training as beneficial.
Maigari said he had learnt modern ways of operating and maintaining motorcycles and tricycles, adding that he would set up his own workshop to train others and support his education.
He commended the Federal Government, NADDC and Gombe State Government for empowering them with the five-day training. (NAN)
