ITF trains over 450, 000 youth in 2 years – DG

Saka Bolaji – Minna

The Industrial Training Fund (ITF), an inter-ministerial agency of the federal government has trained and equipped over 450, 000 Nigeria youth nationwide in the last two years.

Of these numbers, over 650 youth from Niger state benefitted from the training programmes.

This was made known by the ITF Director – General, Joseph Ari, at the closing ceremony of the National Industrial Skills Development Programme (NISDP) held at the Idris Legbo Kutigi Conference Centre, Minna, Niger state at the weekend.

He said the skill development programme was one of the numerous skill acquisition intervention programmes introduced and implemented by the ITF to facilitate the achievement of the present administration’s policy on job and wealth creation.

The programme, he further stated focuses on skill acquisition to create jobs to stem the unemployment rate and breed a new generation of entrepreneurs in order to transform the economic landscape of the country.

Ari restated that the commitment of the fund to skill acquisition was based on the fact that “it is the most sustainable solution to combating unemployment, reducing poverty and youth restiveness in the country.”

The director general noted that it is incontrovertible that any society that neglects the development of its human capital is bound to retrogress in terms of growth and development.

“In Nigeria, the situation is especially worrisome as even in the face of existing vacancies in several sectors of the nation’s economy, as revealed by surveys conducted by the fund and other organizations, several youth still roam the streets without any form of gainful employment, thereby giving rise to crime and other social vices that beset the nation,” he said.

Ari assured that the ITF was determined to change the negative consequences by supporting the federal and Niger state governments by initiating consequential skills acquisition programmes.

The ITF, he said consider the graduation ceremony as a giant steps in achieving its target with the benefitting participants presented with start -up kits.

According to him, the target is to vigorously work to equip Nigerians with lifelong skills in the agriculture, construction, transport and services sectors that were identified by the survey to have greater potentials for job creation.

Beneficiaries of the skill development programme were trained in welding and fabrication, plumbing and pipe- fitting, tailoring, aluminium, tiling, plaster of Paris (POP) as well as photography.

In his goodwill message, Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Ahmed Marafa, noted that the communities, states and nation depend on the youth, lamenting that vast majority of the nation’s youth are unskilled and unemployed.

He commended the ITF in its drive to train the youth, empower them with the necessary skills and equip them with the necessary start -up tools to contribute more positively to the economy of their localities.

The speaker who was represented the Chairman, House Committee on Youth Employment, Isah Mohammed, however, advised that the ITF should collaborate more with state legislatures as representatives of the people.

He said the legislators were in the best position to identify youth that deserve the kind of training the ITF offers, adding that it’s vital to monitor, assess and evaluate the trainees after graduation to ensure that the graduates apply the skills and tools acquired to good use and go further to train more youth in their localities.