Raila’s Sunday Morning Statement Elicits Massive Reactions

ODM leader Raila Odinga on Sunday morning set social ablaze after sharing his plan on how to improve the visibility of brand Kenya.

According to Odinga, for brand Kenya to be more visible the country must start paying attention to skilled laborers like mechanics, tailors, carpenters, hair dressers, cooks before graduating into other high-tech aspects of industrialization.

He cited the ‘Skills Olympics’ which he said happens once every two years and brings together skilled youth from across the world to showcase their talent and learn. Odinga urged the Kenyan government to send a Kenyan group to the 2022 edition that is to happen in October in Shanghai, China.

“Every two years since the 1950s, young people with exceptional skills have gathered in some city in some part of the world for World Skills Competition, otherwise known as “Skills Olympics.”

This competition is described as “the gold standard of skills excellence that inspire young competitors to reach new heights, helping them turn their passion into profession.

File image of ODM Leader Raila Odinga. [Photo: Courtesy]

“Nations whose youths have consistently taken the top medals in this competition have remained industrial powerhouses and thrived even in the worst economic times. Developed nations like Japan, Canada, Germany, Korea have taken their youths to this competition to showcase skills beginning with basics as technicians, tailors, cooks, hair dressers, artisans, craftsmen. They graduated to machinery and manufacturing, then to computing, information processing and IT. There are no short cuts to development,” Odinga said.

Additionally, Raila said Kenya needs a permanent central Human Resources Development body dedicated to identifying skilled youths, organizing domestic skills competitions, picking the best performers, organizing training camps and sending them out to compete with the world at the “Skills Olympics.”

Raila also advocated for clear parallel education paths. He argued that those who wish to proceed to university after high school should be allowed to do so, while those who want to proceed to vocational training should also be encouraged to do so.

He also rallied for a campaign against the societal mind-set that takes a dim view of skilled manual workers.

“We need a massive campaign on how our society has traditionally defined success, what we, the parents expect of our children, and what we as individuals expect of ourselves. We need to convince our people that academic papers are good and our children still need them. But we need to appreciate that societies that have placed equal emphasis on both knowledge and skills have done better,” he said.

The statement elicited massive reactions with some netizens agreeing with the follow Premier, while other claimed that the ideas were just good on paper.

Below are some of the reactions: