The Minister of Works, David Nweze Umahi, has formally announced President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s mentorship programme, which is scheduled to take off in January 2026 and will recruit at least 10 participants from each state of the federation.
Umahi said the initiative is designed mainly for technology transfer, explaining that successful mentees will be positioned to serve as subcontractors on contracts and other major projects after completing the programme.
According to the minister, the programme will advertise nationwide for civil engineers, graduates, skilled artisans, and technical workers, with a clear plan to recruit a minimum of 10 participants per state. He said the selected engineers will be exposed to projects located within their states, particularly ongoing mega projects.
“The intention is technology transfer,” Umahi said. “We want to expose them directly to the projects so that they can gain practical experience and grow their technical capacity.”
He explained that participants will be engaged by the companies currently handling federal road and infrastructure projects and will work under supervising engineers and contractors for as long as those projects last.
Umahi added that the programme is structured to provide training, on-site experience, and real project exposure that cannot be gained through classroom learning alone.
“At the end of the programme, we will look for seed money to enable them acquire equipment,” he said.
