LEVERAGING PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS TO TRANSFORM TVET IN NIGERIA: BRIDGING SKILLS GAPS FOR SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Despite increasing policy attention, budgetary allocations, and public-private partnerships (PPP), Nigeria’s Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) system has continued to underperform in delivering labor-market-relevant skills and employment outcomes. Existing scholarships have extensively documented other challenges of public-private partnership but rarely interrogates the institutional and governance dimensions. They also conceptualize PPPs as technical or financial arrangements, offering limited insight into how weak governance structures and fragmented institutional coordination undermine their effectiveness. This study sets out to fill this gap through an in-depth interrogation and analysis of the governance, institutional structure, and challenges of public-private partnership in Nigeria`s Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).Research Methods and Theory This study adopts a qualitative research design based on relevant documentary analysis and comparative case review. The analysis is anchored in Institutional Theory and stretched to examine how governance structures, coordination, and accountability mechanisms shape PPP performance in TVET. ResultsFindings indicate that Nigeria`s TVET has experienced quantitative growth without institutional consolidation, and TVET underperformance is driven less by resource scarcity and more by systematic weakness. ConclusionThe study concludes that Public-Private Partnerships can strengthen TVET only when repositioned as governance and coordination instruments rather than auxiliary funding mechanisms. Key Contribution and RecommendationThe paper recommends embedding PPP in policy and regulatory frameworks, repositioning PPP as an active agent in enhancing the performance and delivery of TVET, designing public-private partnerships around clearly identified industry skills gaps and labor market needs, and shifting policy focus to industry-relevant needs