Umoru Henry
19 July 2008
interview
Professor Longmas Sambo Wapmuk, former University Lecturer and Professor of Public Administration is the Director-General, Industrial Training Fund (ITF). In this interview he bares his mind on very salient issues on training, manpower development. Here, he urges the Federal government to fund adequately the Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES). Here are excerpts of the encounter.
The ITF he met The Industrial Training Fund, as you are aware, was established in 1971 with the mandate of generating a vast pool of indigenous manpower sufficient to meet the needs of industry and commerce. Regrettably, poor funding and other sundry factors had contrived giving rise a situation where the organization could hardly meet these expectations. Lack of promotion, staff training and poor welfare packages had ensured that morale was at its nadir.
The Federal Government's federal civil service reforms which had kick started two years earlier and had gained ground in nearly all Federal Government Parastatals, had not even commenced in the ITF; and coupled with the problems of funding, it will not be sweeping to state that the organization I met on assumption in August 2006 was in dire straits. I am pleased to say that with concerted efforts and well defined measures, we have overcome some of these concerns with the others being carefully tackled.
As a direct response to the situation we met, we rolled out an agenda for the ITF as follows: A machinery for the effective and sustainable implementation of the ITF mandate in line with the NEEDS strategy with emphasis on strengthening the private sector to take advantage of the avalanche of opportunities that abound in the domestic, regional and world markets;
implementation of our core assignment of promoting vocational skills, implementation of the reform programme of the Federal Government with particular reference to tackling corruption,promoting transparency and accountability in governance as well as galvanizing and motivating the workforce through improved staff welfare.
On SIWES
The Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme, as you are aware is a brainchild of the ITF, and therefore, like its predecessors, the new Management has kept faith with the scheme, despite the funding problems that have bedevilled it for some time now.
In 2007, the Fund disbursed eight hundred and fifty million, one hundred and forty thousand, five hundred naira only (N850,140,500.00) as allowances to one hundred and ninety five thousand, eight hundred and ninety students of accredited disciplines for 234 tertiary institutions and sixty six million, nine hundred and twenty four thousand, five hundred and fifty nine naira only (N66,924,559.00) as supervisory allowances.
This was even as only five hundred and forty two million, eight hundred and seventy two thousand, seven hundred and twenty three naira, forty three kobo (N542,872,723.43) of the seven hundred and sixty five million naira (N765m) that was appropriated, which in itself was not enough to cover the payment of the Students and Supervisory Allowances, was released.
The outstanding balance of two hundred and twenty two million, "one hundred and twenty seven thousand, two hundred and seventy five naira, fifty seven kobo (N222,127,275.57k) has not been released up to date.
This year, as at June 2008 the ITF had collected only three hundred and twenty three million, six hundred and twenty three thousand, seven hundred and twenty two naira only (N323, 623,722.00) out of a total budgetary appropriation of seven hundred and seventy seven million naira (N777, 000,000.00) which is expected to cover the payment of the allowances of two hundred and ten thousand, two hundred and eighty participating students and supervisors from 220 tertiary institutions. The balance of four hundred and fifty three million, three hundred and seventy six thousand, two hundred and seventy eight naira (N453,376,278.00) is still being expected.
This is due to increase in number of schools and students. It must be noted that the SIWES Scheme has posed many challenges for the Fund. The critical and most disturbing aspect is the spate of agitations from students in various tertiary institutions leading to disruptions of academic activities in such institutions as well as the kidnapping and threats to lives of our staff and property.
Whereas the number of participants for the SIWES Scheme is on the increase owing to the springing up of new Universities, Colleges of Education and Polytechnics and also the number of accredited courses commensurate funding by the Federal Government to tackle these increase is lacking.
From our statistics of three (3) years, 2005,2006, and 2007, the ITF is being owed a total of three billion, nine hundred and two million, five hundred and eleven thousand, one hundred and thirty five naira (N3,902,511,135.00). Coupled with persistent under appropriations and non_ release of appropriations, the scheme has become a sort of an albatross for the Fund.
Although we have persisted with this problem child despite its numerous afflictions, the ITF will like to reiterate its earlier appeal for the Federal Government to fund the scheme. This is because the ITF has had to bear the brunt of participant's displeasures each time their allowances are not paid as at when due.
Several Area offices have been picketed by rampaging students. To avert these incidents, it is the opinion of the ITF that a separate budgetary subhead be created for SIWES just as it has been done for the National Youth service Corps Scheme.
Our budget for SIWES every year is based on the actually number of students and then when we submit this actual budget to the ministry, the ministry is constrained to support allocations to us because of the system of financing the ministry. You know, everywhere, the Ministry of Finance or the National Planning Commission will allocate a specific amount to a ministry. They call this 'the envelope'.
Inside this envelope, the requirements of all the parastatals and also the ministry are contained. They say, you take N5 billion for example. So they give the ministry N5 billion, the ministry will have to share the amount between itself and all the agencies under it. Because you need N2.9 billion, like this year, for SIWES, the ministry cannot make you happy and cripple others.
They cannot take that amount out of the general envelope and give us. If they do that, other people will suffer. This has been the problem. It is not really that the ministry doesn't want to give us the money. They are also constrained by the limits placed upon us. If we get this special sub_head or head directly from the ministry of finance, I will have a special vote, though, it could still come through my parent ministry. It means that an amount could specially be allocated to us outside the regular envelope of the ministry.
I think this is the problem that NYSC was suffering from until they were finally pulled out of that and now they get direct allocation.
That is what we have done. The much we have done towards that is that at our stakeholders forum, comprising NUT, NBTE, NCCE, Ministry of Finance itself, Ministry of Agric, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Ministry of Science and Technology, we arrived at conclusion that we will make a special case to the Minister of Finance. So we constituted a committee about a month ago to go and advocate for that. In addition, we have been lobbying our own ministry. I think this time around, the ministry has gotten to appreciate the problem. In fact, senior officials from there are on the committee to go and lobby ministry of finance.
In the interim, we have discussed with some consultants to assist us to see how our law can be amended to take care of the deficiencies currently. Since 1971 when the law was enacted, so many things have happened to make some parts of the law very archaic. We have set up an internal committee that have set up already all the areas that need to be amended and then we need to incorporate a section so that it will make it easy for us to access funds. We have just started. The good thing is that we have started.
Your relationship with the National Assembly to ensure the amendment Like you know, there is a committee of industry at both chambers of the National Assembly. We have tabled this issue before them that we need to look at the law and make suggestions. They favour it. At the end of the day, whatever we do, we will reach them. That is why we are trying to use these consultants so that they will be able to lobby. You know everything is lobby so that they can assist us and ensure smooth passage of the law. But as a bureaucratic organization, we will first of all take permission from our ministry to allow us initiate the action.
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