By Moses Gbande
The Director General, Industrial Training Fund, (ITF) Sir Joseph Ari, KSM, KSS has linked the high rates of terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and other social Vices ravaging Nigeria to the twin bright of unemployment and poverty.
The DG who made this review during the 2019 Merit Award Ceremony of the ITF held at the corporate headquarters in Jos. says unless, agencies of government and parastatals remain dogged in the provision of life skills to Nigerians, the country will continue to suffer the consequences.” As an organisation, we had made a commitment to our stakeholders and by extension, to the nation as we declared it as a Year of Service Delivery. As an organisation, we concluded that the time for excuses and the tendency to blame organisational non-performance on the economy was over as the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, had effectively contained rampant recession he inherited through policies that returned the tottering economy on the path of growth.”Indeed, for the first time since 2016, the National economy witnessed a growth rate of over 2 percent. In addition, we were firmly convinced, as we still do, that the twin blights of unemployment and poverty and their attendant effects, which have manifested themselves in the form of terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and unimaginable social vices, could only be effectively tackled if Agencies and Pararastals such as ours that were expected to provide Nigerians with life skills effective immediately actualize their mandate and lead the way.”Against this realization, therefore, the Fund stepped up the tempo of all it’s activities by initiating policies that have had varying impacts on every sector of national economy.” It is common knowledge that as a Nation, we are contending with the problems of poverty and unemployment. The strange paradox is that despite these, vacancies still exist in various sectors of the National economy. Indeed, a Skills Gap Survey of Six Priority Sectors of the National economy, which was conducted by the ITF and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), showed that vacancies existed in four sectors, namely: Services, Agriculture, Construction and Transportation that were, in some cases, being Filled by non-Nigerians because of the absence of Nigerians with the requisite technical skills. To prepare Nigerians to effectively take over these sectors, beginning from 2016, the Fund initiated a number of skills acquisition programmes particularly targeted at these sectors.”The programmes include; the National Industrial Skills Development Programme (NISDP), the Women Skills Empowerment Programme (WOSEP), Construction Skills Empowerment Programme (CONSEP), the Skills Empowerment for the Physically Challenged (STEPP-C) and the Passion to Profession Programme (PZPP). Through these programmes, thousands of Nigerians who are today, earning sustainable livelihoods as paid employees or as entrepreneurs that are even employing others were equipped with skills in diverse trades.”During the year under review, the Fund expanded the scope of these programmes for more Nigerians to benefit. Under the NISDP, the Fund trained over 11,100 Nigerians across the 36 states of the federation and the FCT in 8 trade areas, namely; Autogele and Beauty Care, Leather Works (Shoes/Bag Making), Catering and Events Management, Solar Installation, Welding and Fabrication, Furniture Making, Domestic Electrical Wiring and Installation and Tiling, Production and Laying Interlocking Tiles.”Under WOSEP, hundreds of women from Enugu, Ekiti, Gombe, Kaduna, Katsina, Nasarawa, Niger, Ondo, Rivers, Taraba, and Zamfara States were equipped with Skins in Tailoring and Fashion Design. The essence of the programme was to increase the capacity of women to earn sustainable livelihoods and reduce their over reliance on others.”The construction sub-sector has been the one most blighted by the lack of Nigerians with the requisite skills leading to the reliance on imported labour from neighbouring countries. To reverse this, the Fund equipped Nigerians from Abia, Bauchi, Edo, Ekiti, Katsina, Kogi, Niger, Osun, and Sokoto States with skills in Pipefitting, Paint Production and Painting, Iron Bending and Masonry.”Like the womenfolk, the physically challenged are one of the most vulnerable groups in our society. To improve their lot for them to be useful to themselves and to the larger society, the Fund implemented STEPP-C, which trained hundreds of the physically challenged in our society in manual cloth design and embroidery.”As we may be aware, the greatest hindrance to skills acquisition in Nigeria is the dearth of requisite infrastructure, particularly for Nigerians in far flung and hard to reach areas of the country. To overcome this obstacle, the Fund acquired some Mobile Training Vans from SENAI of Brazil. In 2019, the Fund deployed the vans to train youths at Azare in Bauchi, Mbaise in Imo State and the relatives of soldiers deployed to the war-front at the 3rd Armoured Division in Jos.”I must note that, in all cases, all the beneficiaries of our skills intervention programmes were empowered with appropriate start up kits to start their businesses.OTHER SKILLS ACQUISITION ACTIVITIESApart from the skills intervention programmes, the Fund engaged in other skills acquisition activities that equipped Nigerians with skills in various trade areas. The InfoTech Skills Empowerment Programme (ISEP) was one of such programmes. The Programme, which graduation took place recently, became necessary due to evident gaps in knowledge and skills in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Sector of the Nigerian economy and the overwhelming evidence of the untapped potential economic benefits derivable from ICT. As the biggest economy in Africa and with the largest population of youths in the world, Nigeria is well positioned to develop and harness ICT to fast-track its economic deveiopment and thereby reduce poverty and create jobs. In recognition of this, the ITF initiated the InfoTech Skills Empowerment Programme (ISEP) and trained Seven Hundred Nigerian youths across the six geo-poiitical zones. The trainees, who were mostly degree holders, were carefully selected and equipped with specialised ICT skills and enrolled for international ICT certification examination in the following trades: Advanced Computer Networking (CCNA), Computer Networking Certification (N*) and Computer Hardware Maintenance and Repair (A+). I am pleased to announce that over 80% of the trainees that were enrolled passed the cert ficaton examination. With the International certification, the beneficiaries can compete for jobs outside the shores of the country. Our vision going forward is to transform Nigeria to another China and India, where ICT is the highest employer and income earner.In addition, in the year under review, the Fund continued the impiementat’on of the Technical Skills Development Project (TSDP), implemented in conjunction with the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA). Thousands of youths were trained in various skills through the 24 participating organisations”.
Nasarawa Reporters 