The Unseen Engine: Strategic Book Publishing as a Catalyst for TVET-Driven Workforce Transformation in Nigeria

Nigeria’s drive towards sustainable development hinges on the transformation of its workforce, yet the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) system faces a persistent constraint: the scarcity of relevant, locally published instructional resources. Despite increasing investments in infrastructure and policy frameworks, most TVET institutions rely on foreign-authored or outdated textbooks that fail to reflect the realities of Nigeria’s industries, safety standards, materials, and cultural contexts. This gap undermines skill acquisition, prolongs industry-academia misalignment and ultimately leaves graduates ill-equipped for emerging opportunities in sectors like hospitality and tourism, agro-allied processing, building construction, ICT, logistics, etc. This paper positions strategic book publishing as an “unseen engine” for workforce transformation in Nigeria. It adopts a position paper methodology, drawing on existing literature, policy documents, and industry analysis to interrogate the publishing gap in TVET education. The paper finds that a lack of localized TVET resources contributes to poor digital literacy, limited exposure to industry-relevant tools and an overdependence on obsolete theories. To address these challenges, this study proposes a multi-stakeholder framework involving 1. TVET institutions for content creation and validation, 2. Industry partners for skills alignment and future-readiness, 3. Publishing houses for professional editing, design and distribution, 4. The government for policy support, funding, and accreditation-driven adoption. Recommendations include the establishment of an AVTEN Textbook Development Committee, annual workshops on textbook authorship and the creation of a TVET Digital Library featuring e-books, interactive simulations, and Open Educational Resources (OERs). The paper concludes that investment in TVET publishing is ultimately an investment in Nigeria’s human capital. For sustainable development to take root, the workforce must be trained with resources that are modern, industry-driven, and proudly Nigerian. Keywords: TVET, Book Publishing, Workforce Transformation, Sustainable Development, Nigeria