The Director General of the National Automotive Design and Development Council, (NADDC), Jelani Aliyu MFR, has described the Executive Governor of Katsina State, Rt. Hon. Aminu Bello Masari as a great visionary for initiating the Katsina National Talent Hunt at the prize presentation ceremony of the competition held in Katsina state on Tuesday 15th February 2022 in Katsina State.
Speaking at the event, Mr Aliyu also described all the participants of the competition as winners for their commitment and their desire to compete.
Furthermore, the DG applauded the Governor for his initiative and urged other state Governments to replicate the idea in their various states, he said “the Governor has started something really big, because the only viable future for any nation or any society is the one where the youth are empowered to practically add value to themselves and to the societies within which they come from”, he added that the Katsina Talent Hunt is incredible because of its ability to identify talented youths and give them the necessary support that they need to develop those talents, the DG urged the youths to never give up on their dreams and aspirations.
“ I grew up in Sokoto quite a while back and I had a dream of becoming an automotive designer when there weren’t any Automotive Institutions in Nigeria, back then even Africa didn’t have any, but I wasn’t going to give up on my dreams, a lot of people thought I was crazy and they tried to discourage me, they said there’s no job for me here in Nigeria, but I kept on doing what I wanted to do, I kept drawing and I never gave up. So once you have a target, once you have a destination, no matter what the challenges are, you must never give up, we must not be defined by our current problems because we are bigger than them, we must be defined by our dreams and aspirations, we must be defined by a better tomorrow, because God willing nothing is impossible, there are no impossibilities, there’s only a better Nigeria to build”.
The DG also stated that the NADDC which has the role of primarily developing the local automotive sector is glad to play a role in the competition to encourage the youth, to inspire them so that they may continue to add value to Nigeria and that is why as part of the council’s mandate , we had the opportunity to come into Katsina and build the NADDC Automotive Centre of Excellence, this will be a highly specialized institution here and the facility will be used to train the youth on the new and evolving technologies in the automotive sector such as Vehicles Electrification and Gas Powered Vehicles technology.
In his remarks, Governor Aminu Bello Masari pledged to give the participants all the necessary support that they need to make themselves and Katsina state better, the Governor also thanked the DG for being actively part of the Katsina talent hunt from the very beginning to the end.
The event which had in attendance, the Executive Governor of Katsina State Rt Hon Aminu Bello Masari and members of the Katsina State Executive Council, The Honorable Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Mal Isa Ali Pantami, Director General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi had winners in different categories which includes the Automotive category, ICT, Arts and Design, and Music/Entertainment Category and an overall winner.
