They're not mutually exclusive. You can have both if you want. A skill is important and so is a degree.
You said a degree is a broad category of knowledge and that is a good thing. It broadens your mind. It makes you think outside of the box. Your time in a higher institution makes you adaptive and helps you improvise. You'll be able to research properly.
In a skill you just focus on what you're learning and nothing more. So outside of that field, you don't know much.
That's why I am of the school of thought that people should have both, especially people from our country. We all know the situation in Nigeria and it doesn't hurt to have degrees and also have skills. You never know which would be beneficial to you.
Degree is just a name but Skil really matters by the time you are wasting your time going to be in library and Auditor to read voluminously books,the person with Skil is already exhibiting the talent to make money like in China even the children or primary school are doing practical what is the extend of degree without practical that's why most of the graduate from polytechnic are better in Skil than university because degree without practical is just like tea without sugar.
Are you for real? How did you come across these conclusions? What proof do you have to show that graduates of polytechnic do better than university graduates? And you think a skill doesn't require a learning period? You don't learn the skill, you know how to do it?
You believe acquiring knowledge is a waste of time, I don't even know why I'm taking this seriously.