Abuja — Director-General/Chief Executive, Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Dr. Afiz Ogun, Minday said President Bola Tinubu has given an 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.
The ITF boss also disclosed that for a start, 100,000 artisans will be selected at every phase of the scheme, pointing out that the numbers of beneficiaries will be scaled-up gradually.
The initial training will commence at the end of this month, he added.
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.
"Yes, they have the right according to international Labour law - and that's why an Indian will come here and succeed and take our money home..."
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.
Gano said, the programme would open more windows for youth/women empowerment through skills, adding that every skills training undertaken by ITF must lead to reputable international certification which in turn guarantees measurable improved livelihood of graduands.
He lamented the "mushrooming of STCs in Nigeria without requisite approval by ITF", adding that it was troubling that all over the country, persons undertake so-called training in both technical and vocational training without prior approval of their training curriculum, manual, and programme by ITF.
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He said, "As a result, there is no way to ascertain the quality of learning being passed on to graduands who pay exorbitant prices for these trainings. This has created a circle of entrenched quackery which ITF is set up to put an end to.
"In another breathe, we now have an avalanche of foreign training institutions offering some kind of technical or vocational training without due approval of the programmes and processes.
"Even where such foreign set up have the competence to undertake these trainings, their unregulated presence represents a loss of revenue by local players like you where you also have such competence.
"ITF will be issuing the necessary regulations on these subject matters very soon and our enforcement efforts will also commence in earnest."
