The President of Lombardy, Attilio Fontana, has promised that his administration will partner with the Federal Capital Territory Administration, to establish a vocational training centre in the FCT, and to train youths from Abuja in Lombardy.

The FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, had arrived in Milan,  Italy at 4:30am on Wednesday morning, ahead of a meeting with President Fontana on Thursday.

Speaking during the meeting, President Fontana also assured the minister of collaboration in agriculture, especially in modern farming technologies.

This was contained in a statement signed by the Senior Special Assistant to the Minister on Public Communication and Social Media, Lere Olayinka.

According to the statement, President Fontana and the FCT Minister had extensive discussions on areas of collaboration in agribusiness and vocational education.

Wike informed the President that the FCT had up to 800,000 hectares of land, out of which 274,000 had been earmarked for agriculture, noting the strength of the Lombardy region in agriculture and vocational education.

“We are aware that Lombardy Region is very strong in agriculture and vocational education. Ours is to see how we can partner to have investors in agriculture in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria. And to also get assistance in the area of vocational education, to train our youths and women, especially in ICT and other skills acquisitions.

“Abuja has vast fertile land, agro-business will thrive there. It has over 800,000 hectares of land out of which 274,000 hectares is earmarked for agricultural development while 270,000 hectares is for forest reserve. Therefore, we are particular about collaborating with your government to develop agriculture in Abuja.

“Also, vocational training for the youths, especially in ICT is key. It gives self-employment and once our youths can employ themselves and are taken off the streets, crime will reduce. Basically, these are the two areas we are seeking that we can partner together and also get assistance from your government,” the statement read

Responding, President Fontana said his administration was willing to collaborate “in the education of the future,” noting that Lombardy accounted for more than 30 per cent of Italy’s technical education.

“You know that Lombardy Region is very strong in industry and battery manufacturing, apart from agriculture. We have a lot of ideas in agriculture too. We are willing to collaborate with you in the education of the future because a lot of education is about software, innovation and technology and it is very important.

“We are the best region in this. More than 30 per cent of technical education in Italy is here in Lombardy. We can establish something on vocational training in your country and you can also come here to learn our kind of education,” he said.

He added that his office will prepare a Memorandum of Signing that could be signed today, as soon as the minister’s team has reviewed it.

Also at the meeting were the FCT Mandate Secretaries for Education, Dr. Danlami Hayyo and Mandate Secretary for Agriculture and Rural Development, Lawan Geidam.