A total of 225 youths and women in Bauchi State have been trained and equipped with skills in solar power installation, hairdressing and beauty care, tailoring and fashion design, integrated agriculture, and plumbing and pipe fitting.
The programme was undertaken by the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) through the 2023 National Industrial Skills Development Programmes (NISDP).
The disclosure was made by the Director General/CEO of ITF, Dr Afiz Oluwatoyin Ogun, at the closing ceremony of the 2023 intervention programmes held on November 28, 2023, at the Command Guest House, Bauchi, on Tuesday.
The DG said that the NISDP, AgSEP, and CONSEP were implemented in Bauchi State aimed at tackling unemployment and poverty, promoting entrepreneurship, and reducing youth restiveness while also diversifying the Nigerian economy in line with the Federal Government’s policy.
Afiz Oluwatoyin added that some of the programmes implemented by the Fund included the National Industrial Skills Development Programme (NISDP), the Women Skills Empowerment Programme (WOSEP), and the Construction Skills Empowerment Programme (CONSEP).
He said that the Industrial Training Fund, which is an Agency of the Federal Government vested with the mandate of Human Capital Development of our dear Nation, has over the years developed numerous skills intervention programmes, including the Agri-preneurship Skills Empowerment Programme (AgSEP) and the Skills Training and Empowerment Programme for the Physically Challenged (STEPP-C), amongst several others
According to him, the National Industrial Skills Development Programmes (NISDP), where graduation is taking place, are a transformative brainchild of the ITF that is implemented to facilitate the achievement of federal government policy on job creation and wealth creation.
It focuses on skills acquisition to create jobs to curb the rampant unemployment situation in the country and breed a new generation of entrepreneurs in order to transform the economic landscape of the country.
The DG/CEO said, “I have been informed that since its inception, the NISDP has equipped over 500,000 Nigerians nationwide with cutting-edge skills in various trades.”
“As an institution, our commitment to skills acquisition is based on the fact that it is the most sustainable solution to combating unemployment, reducing poverty, and youth restiveness in the country.
It is universally accepted that any society that neglects the development of its human capital is bound to retrogress in terms of growth and development,” he added.
He stressed that in Nigeria, the situation is especially worrisome, as even in the face of existing vacancies in several sectors of the national economy, as revealed by surveys conducted by the ITF and other organisations, youths roam the streets without any form of gainful employment, giving rise to crimes and other social vices that bedevil our dear nation today.”
Although the ITF has achieved a lot in over half a century of existence, he said that the organisation, in my opinion, requires a new direction and focus in order for the policies and goals of the Tinubu administration to be achieved.”
According to him, “You may recall that during my assumption of office, I emphasised the need for the ITF to become a catalyst for national growth by deepening its activities and their impact on the national economy through the expansion of access both locally and internationally to our unique resources and internal competencies.”
“I hope to do this through the utilisation of modern technology and the enthronement of a new culture that will lead to the emergence of Nigeria as a country with the most skilled people in Africa.
In the next few weeks, we will unveil our comprehensive policy thrust for what the ITF of the future will look like, the DG/CEO assured.
Afiz Oluwatoyin stressed that, “across the length and breadth of the country today, we see tangible evidence of the Federal Government’s efforts to boost the economy using the Renewed Hope Agenda.
What the Federal Government is doing is clearly impressive in view of the magnitude of unemployment and other challenges confronting the nation today.”
“However, for the efforts of Mr President to have any meaningful impact, it behoves us as governments, non-governmental organisations, and other relevant stakeholders to join hands with the Federal Government for the growth and development of our dear country, Nigeria,” he added.
He therefore urged us, as institutions and well-meaning individuals, to join in the quest to develop our dear country and grow our national economy through the equipping of Nigerians with the requisite skills.
Earlier in his address, the Area Manager, Bauchi Area Office of ITF, Ahmed Jibrin Loko, said that, in the year 2023, the ITF Bauchi Area Office trained 120 youths in Bauchi State under the NISDP in trade areas such as tailoring, hairdressing/beauty care, and solar power installations that cut across the centres at Azare, Misau, and Bauchi metropolis, respectively, in which this occasion is being held to equip the trainees with start-up packs as the Fund’s way of supporting and encouraging indigenous manpower development.
Equally, ITF implemented other skills acquisition programmes in 2023, which included agribusiness skills empowerment programmes (AgSEP) and construction skills empowerment programmes (CONSEP) for the youths of Bauchi State.
Ahmed Jibrin therefore congratulated the esteemed graduates, who were presented with start-up packs, urging them to judiciously utilise the opportunity given by this training to transform themselves.
According to him, “You should consider the start-up packs as your meal ticket to the larger world and an opportunity to meaningfully contribute to the Nigerian economy.”
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