Tinubu Orders Upskill of 5m Nigerian Artisans Annually

Director-General/Chief Executive, Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Dr. Afiz Ogun, has said President Bola Tinubu has given the marching order to upskill five million Nigerian artisans to international standards annually.

Speaking at the inaugural meeting on the implementation of the Skill Up Artisans (SUPA) programme for executives of Enlisted Skills Training Centers (ESTCs) in Abuja, Ogun said he was prepared to rise above the “Nigerian factor” and achieve the fund’s mandate.

He said he had the unflinching support of the presidency, the National Assembly and artisans in general to implement the programme on merit and without favour, adding that all Nigerian artisans will have equal opportunity to benefit from the programme.

He said, “The first criterium is that you must be a Nigerian, and Mr. President said, ‘All artisans in Nigeria are my candidates’. So, who am I, I follow that. As far as you are a Nigerian, you are a candidate for this programme.”

He said the group of beneficiaries were those who have registered since the portal was open between January and March this year, adding that screening was conducted in all the senatorial zones across the country.

He told THISDAY, “We want to upskill Nigerian artisans to international standards and after upskilling them, we don’t want a situation where we train them and just leave them; we want to make sure they get jobs – the jobs are there but the quality is not there. That’s why Ghanaians will come here and succeed and take our money back.

He said, “We are the landlords, we want to make sure we taste the money too by empowering our artisans, we want to raise them out of poverty. And by the grace of God, the president has given us this mandate and we are prepared to do it.

“The president has given me the go-ahead and I have him behind me; I have the entire Presidency behind me, the national assembly behind me and I have the entire artisans in Nigeria behind me; and I push forward when I look back, I see the artisans. Now they call me ‘Father of Artisans’ and I am ready to go. I am encouraged by their passion. We are scaling up the Nigerian artisans to international standards and it begins now.”

In his remarks, Deputy Director, Technical and Vocational Skills Training Department, ITF, Usman Gano, said the SUPA programme seeks to aid quality service delivery through the training, certification and licensing of artisans to promote the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises; with you here as key partners.

He explained that over the years, pursuant to its statutory responsibility, the fund had expanded its structures, developed training programmes, reviewed its strategies, operations and services in order to meet the expanding, and changing demands for skilled manpower in the Nigerian economy.