Fwd as received
*Professor Idris Bugaje wrote:*
A strange thing is happening in Nigeria.
A young man spends 20 years climbing the educational ladder.
6 years in primary school.
6 years in secondary school.
4 to 6 years in university.
1 year of NYSC.
By the time he is done, he has invested roughly 6,500 to 7,000 days preparing for life.
Then life arrives and asks a simple question:
“What problem can you solve?”
Silence.
Not because he is unintelligent.
Not because he is lazy.
But because somewhere along the journey, we confused education with certification.
We taught people how to pass exams, not how to create value.
Think about it.
An electrician who never attended university can walk into a building worth N500 million and confidently power every room from the foundation to the penthouse.
A graduate with multiple certificates may stand beside him unable to identify which wire powers the building.
One has credentials.
The other has capability.
The market pays for capability.
That is why reality often delivers a rude mathematical lesson.
If a graduate earns N100,000 monthly, that is N1.2 million annually.
A skilled technician charging N40,000 per job and handling just two jobs weekly earns over N4 million yearly.
Same country.
Different skills.
Different outcomes.
The tragedy is not that one earns more than the other.
The tragedy is that we keep preparing millions of young people for a race that no longer exists.
We celebrate admission lists like victory trophies.
We celebrate graduation photos like guaranteed employment letters.
Then we act surprised when hundreds of applicants compete for one vacancy.
Imagine 1,000 people chasing 10 jobs.
Basic mathematics says 990 people will be disappointed.
No motivational speaker can negotiate with arithmetic.
Yet we continue producing graduates faster than we produce opportunities.
That is like manufacturing keys without building doors.
The painful irony?
The people we once looked down on are increasingly becoming the people we depend on.
When your transformer fails at midnight, you do not call a philosophy graduate.
When your water stops running, you do not search for a political scientist.
When your air conditioner breaks in April heat, theory suddenly becomes less important than technical competence.
The economy has a brutal honesty.
It rewards usefulness more than status.
Nations that understood this long ago built prosperity differently.
They stopped asking only, “How many graduates do we have?”
They started asking, “How many builders, technicians, machinists, coders, welders, mechanics and innovators can we produce?”
There is dignity in intellectual work.
There is dignity in skilled labour.
The mistake is ranking one above the other.
A society that worships certificates while neglecting competence eventually discovers that framed documents cannot build roads, repair machines, wire factories, manufacture products or create wealth.
The future belongs to people who can solve problems.
Whether they learned it in a lecture hall, a workshop, an apprenticeship centre or under a mango tree is secondary.
Because at the end of the day, the market does not award marks.
It awards value.
And value has never asked to see anybody’s certificate before writing the cheque.
May Nigeria win 🇳🇬🇳🇬
Engr Prof IM Bugaje
Executive Secretary,
National Board for Technical Education (NBTE)
🔐 Update on the Upcoming Verification Process
We know many of you are looking forward to verification - and we’re stepping closer to that moment.
This process is designed to be structured, transparent, and fair, ensuring every qualified Human Node moves forward with clarity. Here’s how the flow will work:
Phase 1: Matching
You begin by tapping “Match Curator.”
An anonymous list will appear, and you can choose a curator to match with.
After selecting, you enter the matching state and wait to be successfully picked. Once picked, your application advances to the submission stage.
Phase 2: Submission
When it’s your turn, a strict 24-hour countdown will start.
You must complete and submit your documents within this time. Missing the deadline may move you to a later pool, delaying your progress.
There are 3 submission levels. After completing all required steps, you press Submit, and your status changes to In Review.
Phase 3: Verification Process
This is the last stage - your application will be reviewed carefully.
This process is more than a technical update - it’s a defining milestone before full verification rollout.
Prepare early. Understand each phase.
Be ready when your turn comes!
#InterLink #ITLG #ITL
TROOPS RESCUE FOUR KIDNAP VICTIMS AS OFFENSIVE INTENSIFIES AGAINST NOTORIOUS BANDIT KINGPIN, CRIMINAL NETWORKS IN KATSINA
Troops of the Nigerian Army conducting Operation CLEAN SWEEP III have recorded another major breakthrough in ongoing counter-banditry operations in Katsina State, rescuing another four kidnapped victims during sustained offensive operations targeting the notorious bandit leader, Kachalla Muhammadu Fulani and his criminal network.
On Tuesday, 16 June 2026, troops of 17 Brigade Strike Group/Quick Response Force supported by troops of 8 Division Special Forces launched a deliberate offensive to clear terrorists' hideouts in Fafu Village along the Matazu-Musawa axis. Prior to the ground assault, the Air Component of Operation FANSAN YAMMA conducted Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance missions over the area, enabling troops to accurately identify and dominate the terrorists' enclave.
Troops made contact with the terrorists and engaged them with overwhelming firepower. Unable to withstand the troops' aggressive offensive, the terrorists fled in disarray and abandoned their camp and captives. Subsequent exploitation of the camp led to the rescue of four abducted victims.
The rescued victims were immediately evacuated to Forward Operating Base Matazu where they were received by the General Officer Commanding 8 Division and Commander Sector 2 Operation FANSAN YAMMA, Major General BP Koughna, who reassured them of their safety and reaffirmed the commitment of troops to restoring peace and security across the state. Sime of the victims, who sustained gunshot wounds inflicted by their abductors during captivity, received immediate medical attention and were subsequently moved to the Federal Teaching Hospital Katsina for expert medical management.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the victims were abducted on 14 April 2026 from Sabon Sara along the Matazu-Karaduwa Road and were held in captivity alongside the late Major General Rabe Abubakar (rtd) and his wife.
Troops remain on the trail of Kachalla Muhammadu Fulani and other criminal elements and will continue to sustain aggressive operations until all those responsible for acts of terror against innocent citizens are apprehended or neutralised. The Nigerian Army, in collaboration with other security agencies remains committed to ensuring that terrorists and bandits have no safe haven.