Skills development has been described as a wise investment that could reduce unemployment, eradicate poverty  and promote economic growth.
A self-employed welder in Port Harcourt, Cyril Jumbobaraye, who made the assertion in a chat with The Tide correspondent on Friday said the key role of skills acquisition in any field of endeavour was to foster prosperity and economic self reliance, pointing out that people that invested in skill training have made tremendous progress and development, especially in this present dispensation.
Jumbobaraye said when skills were developed, jobs are eventually created and people employed, disclosing that when he started the business as a skill trainee years back, little did he knew that he would one day be an employer of labour, and moreso, to take care of his family of three.
According to him the unemployed youths that are looking for jobs could be meaningfully engaged through skills, thereby reducing poverty, youth restiveness and crime rate in the state.
He noted that the well being and prosperity of young men and women could be tapped through skills than education and other training could provide, and appealed to the governments to emphasise on Skills Acquisition Training for the youths, in order to make the society a better place and crime free.
The self-employed welder said graduating from any higher institution is one thing and acquiring the skill on any endeavour is another thing, stressing that government should encourage them through human potentials and economic empowerment by giving skills acquisition priority attention.
He further noted that with the global economic down-turn in the country and in the state, which is impacting on the unemployment rate, skills training could make considerable progress in equitable development and economic advancement if well articulated and put in place.