As part of the cross-boarder AgriVET capacity-building project, supported by the European Union (EU) across several European and African countries, the Citizens Information and Development Initiative (CIDI) held a productive meeting with the Delta State Ministry of Technical Education at the Chike Edozie Secretariate on 10 March 2026.

CIDI’s Executive Director, Queenet Okorite Bob-Manuel, and Programme Director, Tega Edeki, met with the Ministry’s leadership team: Permanent Secretary Dr. Gloria Patrick Ferife, Director of Planning, Research, and Statistics Ovili Collins C., and Director of Technical Education Idiegbe Ufuoma. The discussion centred on closing critical skills gaps in logistics, digitalisation, and value chain optimisation within Nigeria’s agribusiness sector, and what policy action could be taken to improve relevant skills to increase employment oppurtunities. 

The Ministry welcomed the survey, noting its value in strengthening the curriculum used in Vocational Education Training across technical colleges in Delta State. Dr. Gloria Patrick Ferife encouraged CIDI to explore deeper partnership and collaboration through the Delta State Strategic Road Map for Technical Education which is a signal of the Ministry’s commitment to modernising agribusiness education.

In response, Queenet Okorite Bob-Manuel thanked the Ministry for its openness to collaboration and committed to sharing the survey’s findings once it is completed, so the Ministry can address the skills gaps identified and shape more effective training programmes.