ITF Equips  500,000  Youths with Technical Skills in Five Years

Gilbert Ekugbe

The Industrial Training Fund (ITF) yesterday stated that over 500,000 Nigerian young men and women have been empowered with requisite employability and technical skills over the past five years.

Speaking on the sidelines of the inauguration of ITF’s Ikeja area office, Lagos, by the Director-General of ITF, Joseph Ntung Ari, said so far, the numbers are going up by the year in its bid to address the high rate of unemployment in the country currently put at 33 per cent with the youths constituting over 70 per cent.

According to him, ITF would be investing massively in equipping more youths going forward, saying the move is coming on the heels of the Tinubu-led administration as he identifies human capacity development as one of the pillars for achieving an all-inclusive economic growth.

He said: “Our administration was ushered into office in September 2016, but as of 2021, we were able to equip over 500,000 Nigerian young men and women with the requisite skills, and the numbers are going up by the year. The ITF is one institution that is very concerned about monitoring its trainees to see how they are faring.”

Speaking on the inauguration, he said it’s part of the continuous efforts of ITF to not only expand access for more Nigerians to acquire technical skills by providing the enabling infrastructure but also to enhance the efficient delivery of its services in line with its mandate.

According to him, “It is in furtherance of this that ITF under the incumbent management in 2020 unveiled five new projects namely: Lagos Island Area Office Complex and Vocational Wing; Mechatronics and Administrative block at the Industrial Skills Training Centre (ISTC; Kano; the Katsina Area Office Complex and Vocational Wing; the Modern Library Complex, and Central Store at the headquarters and a block of classrooms at the ITF Staff School.

“As further proof of our commitment to deepening of our infrastructure, between 2021 and this year, the Fund completed 10 office complexes with vocational wings located in Gusau, Minna, Aba, Awka, Yola, Maiduguri, Uyo, Abakiliki, Owerri, and this edifice in Ikeja that is being unveiled today. Other projects, included the ITF Area office complexes and vocational wings located in Gombe and Bauchi, as well as the recently acquired Jossy Royal Hotel in Jos and the ITF Multipurpose Conference Centre in Abuja.”

Ari pointed out that at the assumption of office of the incumbent management in the ITF, many of these facilities that have been unveiled or about to be unveiled were abandoned, in some cases, for several decades, adding that the management is set about finding ways to complete the abandoned structures for reasons aforementioned.

“Our determination to expand existing infrastructure was informed by the fact that Nigerians have become increasingly aware of the importance of skills acquisition as a pathway to sustainable internally generated revenue are currently on-going and nearing completion,” he stressed.

The DG noted that the plan of the ITF management is to train and send trainees for internship at the recently purchased Jossy Royale Hotel in Jos which is currently being remodeled, stressing that the aim is to escalate the numbers of Nigerians with requisite skills in different trade areas.

He reiterated its appeal to Nigerians, especially governmental agencies and other stakeholders, to collaborate with the ITF in its efforts to equip Nigerians with requisite skills.

Also speaking, the Director-General, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria

(MAN), Segun Ajayi-Kadir, said the unemployment crisis in the country is a serious issue, lamenting that with over 70 per cent of the youths are unemployed, and that the country is sitting on a time bomb.

“If we have an agency of government that is set up for improving skills and even adding to the number of people we employ, I think that could be a Key Performance Index (KPI) for government agencies in Nigeria and ITF will shine bright where it is being mentioned,” he stated.