Jos – The Industrial Training Fund (ITF) says it has trained no fewer than 12,950 artisans in the construction industry nationwide according to Mr Dickson Onuoha, the Acting Director-General of the fund.
This is contained in a statement made available to newsmen on Thursday in Jos by Mrs Ifeoma Ihezue, Head of Public Affairs of the fund.
It said the D-G said this while hosting a visiting 40-man delegation from the Ugandan Directorate of Petroleum.
It quotes him as telling the delegation led by Mr Nuru Byarur, the Acting Head of Uganda High Commission that the trainees comprised 350 artisans from each of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
The statement added that the aim was to reduce over dependence on use of nationals from neighbouring countries for jobs in the construction industry.
It said the training was to improve their skills and forestall loss of employment to skilled expatriates.
“Loss of jobs to expatriates due to inadequate manpower capacity and the inability of Nigerians to fill vacancies in multinational companies are now being addressed.
“ITF has expanded its areas of technical and vocational training to include new areas of emerging economic growth opportunities,’’ it said.
The statement explained that the National Industrial Skills Development Programme (NISDP) currently being implemented in the country had been used to train thousands of Nigerians in various technical areas.
It notes that such jobs had created their multiplier effects.
The statement added it was important for African countries to form partnership based on their comparative advantages in order to make the continent’s economic agenda feasible.
It quotes Byarur as saying the visit was for to them to understudy the implementation of the technical and vocational prowess of Nigeria. “Nigeria is renowned for its capacity-building in manpower development in the petroleum sector.
“We are in Nigeria to see firsthand how technical and vocational education is being implemented in Nigeria, since the country has more experience in developing manpower in the petroleum sector.
“These and other sectors are areas we may be interested in,’’ it said.
The statement quotes Byarur as calling for partnership in technical and vocational training between Uganda and Nigeria, in developing reliable manpower for the continents’ economic growth. (NAN)
