The Federal Government has unveiled Levels 2 and 3 of the newly developed National Occupation Standards (NOS) for call centre operations.
At the unveiling in Abuja on Tuesday, the Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Prof. Idris Bugaje, said the standards were designed to equip youths, including students in tertiary institutions, with valuable skills.
Bugaje described the initiative as a “low-hanging fruit” with massive potential for job creation and foreign exchange earnings, especially for young people.
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“I was trying to Google job opportunities in call centres globally before I came in. There are opportunities across the world in call centre operations.
“Even within Nigeria, we have many job opportunities, not just full-time roles, but also part-time.
“Students in tertiary institutions who get this training will be able to earn some income to support themselves,” he said.
Bugaje added that the initiative, largely self-funded due to delays in the 2025 budget implementation, underscored a strong commitment to making the call centre sector a viable employment avenue.
He appealed to the Minister of Education to include the new standards in the national training framework for 2025.
He stressed that with the new TVET initiative, it was necessary to publicly develop and present the standards to gain support from training centres for a successful rollout.
Dr Nabila Mohammed, Technical Assistant to the Minister of Education on TVET and STEM, emphasised the urgency and relevance of the development and reaffirmed the ministry’s commitment to rolling out the TVET initiative.
Also speaking, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr Aminu Maida, noted that Nigeria’s call centre sector already supported millions of telecom subscribers.
Maida was represented by Mrs Freda Bruce-Benneth, Director of the Consumer Affairs Bureau at NCC.
Maida highlighted the urgent need for trained professionals given the more than 80 million active MTN lines and hundreds of millions of subscribers across all operators.
“The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is already playing its part, operating its own call centre through the toll-free line 622 for unresolved complaints,” he said.
Meanwhile, Dr Muhammed Mustapha, Chairman of Hypertech Nig. Ltd., explained that aligning local skill development with global frameworks could enhance international job opportunities.
“With proper training and certification, Nigerian youth could handle customer service calls for companies abroad without ever leaving the country,” he said.(NAN)
