By Jude Owuamanam, Managing Editor Northern Operations
Abuja (Sundiata Post) — Director General of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Joseph Ari, has lauded the turnout of participants at the first phase of the 2017 National Industrial Skills Development Programme (NISDP), saying that it was impressive.
This phase of NISDP, which will be flagged of between 20th and 24th March, 2017 in all the ITF skill acquisition centres, will equip 500 youths each from Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Benue, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Kano, Kebbi, Kogi, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Rivers, Taraba and Yobe states.
A statement signed by the Head Public Affairs Unit, Suleyol Fred-Chagu, quoted the DG as describing the commencement of the programme across skills training centres in 18 states of the federation as ‘very successful’.
These states, the statement said, would benefit from this phase, while the 9,000 trainees will undergo a three-month intensive skills acquisition training in over 30 trades and crafts, including tailoring and fashion design, paint making, bead making, plumbing and pipe fitting, farming, confectionery, welding and fabrication, ICT, electrical installation, carpentry and wood work, cosmetology, GSM repairs and plaster of paris (POP).
The DG listed other trades and crafts as animal fattening, goat rearing and milk processing, agric service providing, motor mechanic, tie and dye, shoes and bag making, aluminium fabrication, hair dressing, event management/interior decoration, process control instrumentation, industrial/domestic electrical installation technology, fish farming and tiling.
He explained that the trade areas were chosen based on their projected value addition to citizens of the states and their potential to provide a sustainable means of livelihood for the youths in their respective states.
Ari said that the programme is being undertaken under a tripartite arrangement between the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) and Bank of Industry (BOI).
He added that trainees will be provided hands-on vocational and entrepreneurial skills, as well as modalities for business financing.
According to him, the NISDP was inaugurated in 2012 as a key enabler of the Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP), which is supervised by the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment (FMITI).
He added that since its flag-off, the programme has trained 84,100 Nigerians in diverse trade and craft. In 2016 alone, the NISDP trained 10,100 Nigerians in diverse skills, including 1,100 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Maiduguri, Borno State.