ITF Trains over 20m Nigerians in key Economy Sectors

 

The Director-General and Chief Executive of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Sir Joseph N. Ari, on Wednesday in Calabar, Cross River State, disclosed that the Fund has trained over 20 million Nigerians in various sectors of the economy since it was established a little over 40 years ago.

Ari said the ITF was established in October 1971 by decree no.47 as amended in 2011, with the mandate to among others, provide, promote and encourage the acquisition of skills in industry and commerce with a view to generating a pool of indigenous trained manpower sufficient to meet the needs of the private and public sectors of the economy.

Ari who stated this at a media briefing organised by the ITF said from the number, 300,000 Nigerians have benefited from its training in 2018.

He said most of the beneficiaries of their training were either in paid employment or employers of labour in different sectors of the country's economy.

The ITF DG, who was represented by the Calabar Area Manager of ITF, Mrs. Ifeyinwa Anozie, said despite their achievements, in line with the policy direction of President Muhammadu Buhari, the Fund re-articulated and refocused its activities with greater emphasis on skills acquisition towards job creation in order to stem the rampant unemployment and breed a new generation of entrepreneurs that would transform Nigerian economic landscape.

Ari said from the skills intervention programmes offered by the ITF, which are accessible to all Nigerians, particularly the youths, it provided tailor-made skills and other direct training services that are implemented by the 43 Industrial Skills Training Centres and area offices of the Fund nationwide.

He said through this process, the Fund has consistently driven the country's economy, and has placed Nigeria among the skills hub of the world.

Ari stated further that in a bid to achieve this, the incumbent management in 2016 unveiled one of its most ambitious plans since its establishment, tagged: ‘The ITF Reviewed Vision: Strategies for Mandate Actualisation’.

The director-general of ITF said the six-year plan, billed to terminate in 2022, was aimed "at accelerating the impartation of technical vocational skills to Nigerians, aggressively address service challenges, tackle infrastructural deficits, expand revenue and a gamut of other strictures hamstringing the actualisation of the Fund's mandate."

He said more than two years into the implementation of the new policy, it has exceeded expectations by training over 450, 000 Nigerians, who are today earning sustainable livelihoods as paid employees or as entrepreneurs that are employers of labour.