The Nation Newspaper

Tag: ITF

  • ITF seeks support for SIWES

    The Director-General, Industrial Training Fund  (ITF), Joseph Ari has urged stakeholders and well meaning Nigerians to support the effort of the organisation towards the sustainance of the Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) for the benefit of the nation.

    Ari made this appeal at the 13th SIWES Biennial Conference in Abuja, stating that the programme is very relevant to the nation. The scheme has succeeded in establishing a closer collaboration between institutions and industries, a factor essential for preparing young people for the world work, he added.

    Ari said: “The scheme also prepares students to fit in readily in employment in public and private sectors of the economy. SIWES has consequently reduced the need for the employment of expatriate in the field of engineering, technology and other professional areas. The scheme has recorded significant success and ITF has remained passionately committed to its sustainance.

    “Over the years, the relevance of the operational framework of the scheme diminished by a myriad of challenges. This framework needs to be re-visited by all stakeholders to ensure continuous improvement. Issues to be addressed by the biennial conference include stakeholders engagement engagement to sensitise the public on the relevance of SIWES to national growth and development.

    “Stakeholders meeting to resolve some of the thorny issues associated with the scheme. Close collaboration with NECA to support industries through re-tooling of facilities of NECA member organisations, as part of effort to revive ailing industries in the economy and the e-payment of SIWES allowance.

    “However not much has been achieved with regards to funding, this conference is therefore expected to address funding challenges and a, so resolve the issue of geometric increase in the number of courses and students involve in the scheme.”

  • Lawmakers endorse ITF’s building project

    Lawmakers endorse ITF’s building project

    The of House of Representatives has endorsed the building project of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) for training and other use.

    The project is 75 per cent completed.

    The building, they said, would boost ITF’s capabilities and capacities to train the nation’s workforce and meet its target.

    The Chairman, House Committee on Industry, Hon Abubakar Moriki, who led other members of the committee on a tour of the building in Lagos State during the week, extolled the initiative of the Joseph Ari-led ITF to ensure the building is completed  next year.

    Moriki promised to support the agency in its bid for the speedy completion of the  project whenever it needs their help.

    Ari said the seven-storey building, when completed, would not only serve the agency, but also provide accommodation to various companies as another means of revenue generation for  ITF.

    He said: “This building, when completed in 2018 will further boost our capabilities to equip more workers in the requisite knowledge needed to improve the skills and abilities of the labour force in the country.”

  • ITF trains 100 in ‘quick-win skills’

    ITF trains 100 in ‘quick-win skills’

    The Industrial Training Fund (ITF), has started full training for the quick win skills acquisition programme, the Director-General,  Joseph Ari, has  said.

    He said the Fund is starting off the training with 100 Nigerians in fashion and garment making.

    The first batch of trainees got one industrial sewing machine each with no charges. The Fund said the 100 trainees shall all have one industrial machine upon their graduation. The first batch of 20 graduated at the weekend.

    Ari spoke during the graduation ceremony of the 20 of 100 trainees in Abuja, the programme is tagged: Passion to Profession. The whole idea is to add value to the development of the country, he added.

    He said: “The whole idea started with the actualisation of the mandate of a document, the mandate is to assemble 100 young Nigerians, draw up a template and bring trainees from all over the country.

    “This falls under the quick win programme known as passion to profession. We brought them to practicalise their passion to add up to the development of the country. By the time the trainees leave here they will be fully qualified. We are empowering Nigerians and training the agency staff as well.”

    The Minister of State, Industry, Trade and Investment, Aisha Abubakar charged the trainees to go out and do what they are supposed to do to promote perfection.

    She said for the nation to move forward, it is critical that to focus on skills acquisition, as white collar jobs are no longer there. “It is not funny when we go out of the country, we are praised, but when we come back home things are different.

  • ITF, NECA train 3,000 youths in technical skills

    Three thousand youths are being trained under the Technical Skills Development Project (TSDP) of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) and the Nigerian Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), ITF Director-General Joseph Ari has said.

    The training is holding in 18 industrial centres nationwide.

    Ari said the TSDP was one of the initiatives by both organisations create jobs.

    “Its primary objective is to reduce unemployment, promote sustainable wealth creation and give the youths entrepreneurial and attitudinal proficiency through technical skills acquisition,” Ari stated.

    He said the participants would be trained in 18 trades and crafts, including electrical/electronic maintenance, mechanical machinery and maintenance.

    According to him, they would also be trained in welding, fabrication, plumbing/pipe fittings maintenance, beverage bottle operation and information and communications technology.

    Ari listed others as building construction, carpentry and joinery, agriculture and agro-allied, animal husbandry, aqua culture, breeding and hatchery, livestock and aqua culture feeds, as well as fashion designing.

    ITF and NECA, he said, expected the participating organisations to equip the trainees with competitive skills to enable them get jobs after the programme.

  • ITF, NECA train 3,000 youths on technical skills

    THREE thousand youths are being trained under the Technical Skills Development Project (TSDP) of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) and the Nigerian Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), ITF Director-General Joseph Ari has said.

    The training is holding in 18 industrial centres nationwide.

    Ari said the TSDP was one of the initiatives by both organisations create jobs.

    “Its primary objective is to reduce unemployment, promote sustainable wealth creation and give the youths entrepreneurial and attitudinal proficiency through technical skills acquisition,” Ari stated.

    He said the participants would be trained in 18 trades and crafts, including electrical/electronic maintenance, mechanical machinery and maintenance.

    According to him, they would also be trained in welding, fabrication, plumbing/pipe fittings maintenance, beverage bottle operation and information and communications technology.

    Ari listed others as building construction, carpentry and joinery, agriculture and agro-allied, animal husbandry, aqua culture, breeding and hatchery, livestock and aqua culture feeds, as well as fashion designing.

    ITF and NECA, he said, expected the participating organisations to equip the trainees with competitive skills to enable them get jobs after the programme.

  • ITF/CAT U-12 West and Central Africa Teams’ Championship: Organise more local tournaments, ITF urges Nigeria

    ITF/CAT U-12 West and Central Africa Teams’ Championship: Organise more local tournaments, ITF urges Nigeria

    After watching the ongoing ITF/CAT U-12 West and Central Africa Teams’ Championship, ITT Development Officer for West, Central and Northern Africa, Amine Ben Machlouf believes lack of regular national tournaments reflected in the quality of play by the participants.

    Host – Nigeria, Togo, Benin and Ghana are currently taking part in the championship holding at the National Stadium in Lagos and the winners are expected to represent the region at the continental tournament holding later in the year in-yet-to-decided venue and date.

    For the ITTF officer, the observation from the players showed that they lack competitive action.

    “I think I am impressed with the atmosphere coupled with the talents displayed by the players. I think what I noticed that is lacking in the players in this region is lack of national competition. From the way they have been playing, it was obvious that they have not been playing locally and this is what I just realized is missing in these players. Some of them have not played up to three tournaments this year while their counterparts from the North and Southern African region have played series of competitions this year,” the Moroccan said.

    “Nigeria like every other country is growing in the sport but the growth can be observed from the quality of play of its players. I think national competitions must be staged to keep the players busy and put them in good shape for international competitions,” he said.

    He said further that the Team’s Championships was aimed at encouraging team spirit among the players. “This tournament is fashioned after the Davis and Fed Cups and it is aimed to allowing the players to imbibe the team spirit. We hope the winners from the boys and girls event will qualify for the main event for Africa in a venue yet to be decided,” he added.

  • Skilled foreigners taking over jobs, ITF boss laments

    A killed foreigners are taking over local jobs Director General Industrial Training Fund (ITF) Sir Joseph Ari has disclosed.

    He said Nigerians have to scale up their skills to be able to attract new job opportunities in the country.

    Ari spoke at the flag-off of the 2017 National Skills Development Programme (NISDP) at the Trans Amusement Park, Ibadan, Oyo state.

    Represented by Director, Field Services department, Mrs. Adesola Taiwo, Ari said the youths were trained in tiling, aluminum, hair dressing and cosmetology, refrigeration and air conditioning repair.

    He said all stakeholders must be ready to check the trend, leading to the resolve of the commission to establish NISDP programme.

    According to him: “What is most worrisome is the fact that despite the number of Nigerians without works, several survey, including those conducted by the ITF have revealed that vacancies exist in some sectors of the economy that are currently being filled by persons other than Nigerians because of the lack of requisite technical skills by our people.”

    The Director General said 84,100 Nigerians in 18 states have undergone training in 30 trades and crafts.

    He appealed for collaboration and partnership with the agency to tackle the hydra-headed problem and put Nigeria on the path of sustainable development through accelerated skills acquisition programmes.

  • ITF to organise skills acquisition training for over 500 youths

    ITF to organise skills acquisition training for over 500 youths

    The Director General of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Joseph Ari has hinted of plans by the agency to train over 500 youths in 18 states of the federation on skill acquisition.

    The DG said this when his four-month old management team paid a courtesy visit to the head office of Vintage Press Limited, publishers of The Nation newspaper titles.

    According to him, arrangement has reached advanced stage for the takeoff of the fifth phase of the National Industrial Skills Development Program (NISDP) in 18 states of the federation to facilitate the mass training programme, adding that the trainees will be trained by ITF per state.

    The programme, which is the initiative of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), ITF and Bank Of Industry (BoI) under the Ministry of Commerce Trade and Investment, would help youths to become employer of labour thereby reducing unemployment in the country.

    “Let us see how you can help us rebuild the core of our training structure. Our goal is to train young people who we call ‘Agro-preneurs’ and support them with credit,” said Ari.

    The ITF boss added that the visit to The Nation was part of ITF’s Operation Reach Out programmes geared towards human capacity development in the country.

    He also hinted of plans to partner with National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to train corps members during their one year programme in any skill they want “So that after the programme they don’t need to seek for job under government but can be employer of labour as we are doing everything to make sure we reduce unemployment in this country.”

    Ari further said the organisation had also introduced the graduate re-skilling programme aimed at training 500 graduates of engineering and technology with vocational and entrepreneurial skills.

    “The Industrial Trust Fund, in its Graduate Re-skilling Programme, will train 500 graduates of Technology and Engineering with vocational and entrepreneurial skills from each of the six geo-political zones. We are reviewing the ITF/DVT, that is, German Chamber of Crafts and Commerce Dual, to train apprentices in line with German Dual System, equipping and retooling of existing skills training centres and procurement of Mobile Training Units,’’ he said.

    Responding, the General Manager, Vintage Press Limited, Mr. Soji Omotunde thanked the management of ITF for the visit and promised the company’s commitment to support them in reducing unemployment in the country.

    “There is a renewed effort to use the mass training programme to aid poverty eradication, job creation and effective diversification of the economy as envisioned by the federal government and will not succeed if Nigerians are not skilled,” he said.

  • Reps urge EFCC to investigate ‘movement’ of N4bn from Keystone Bank

    The House of Representatives on Monday urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to commence investigation into an alleged illegal movement of N4 billion from Industrial Trust Fund’s (ITF) account domiciled in Keystone Bank.

    The Vice Chairman, Public Accounts Committee, House of Representatives, Ibrahim Baba, made the call following a query issued by the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

    According to the query dated December 2010, a total sum of N4.2 billion was illegally moved three times in November from ITF account to other accounts, all belonging to same agency.

    The OAGF questioned the propriety of moving the money without remitting N23.5 million interest accruing from the transactions to the agency’s account.

    It also sought to ascertain who authorised the transactions and for what purpose.

    Responding to the query, the Director-General and Executive Chai ITF, Mr. Joseph Ari, said the transactions were made without the authorisation of the agency.

    Ari said the bank in its response to the query in May 2012 said the withdrawal from ITF’s remital control account was done in error.

    According to Ari, Keystone’s position was that it was a wrong posting but was later corrected.

    “However within the days the money was moved, ITF wrote Keystone Bank to remit the interest to the account accordingly but the bank didn’t reply.

    “We reported the matter to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the CBN advised that parties should sit down and discuss the matter.

    “However, we sat down with keystone officials without finding solution,’’ Ari said.

  • ITF laments yearly dip in govt funding

    ITF laments yearly dip in govt funding

    The Industrial Training Fund (ITF)  has decried the low funding of the Students Industrial Works Experience Scheme (SIWES) by the Federal Government.

    Its Director-General, Joseph Ari who spoke during ITF’s Field Service Department SIWES Division regulatory agency meeting in Abuja,  lamented that  the agency records yearly decrease in Federal Government’s funding.

    He said: “The schools involved in the scheme are over 395, cutting across universities, colleges of education and polytechnic, as other universities and polytechnic key into the scheme, while participants of the scheme are on the rise, the funding has continued to deplete owing to other commitment of government.

    “ITF has been given very bad image- many people have said ITF have billions of naira that has not been paid, not knowing that what it gets for SIWES is not even adequate to cover the scope of its activities.

    “In 2010, to run the scheme was N2.47billion which was budgeted but what was appropriated or released was N1billion, which is about N1.47billion short fall. That is why every year, we keep having backlog,  N2.33billion was budgeted in 2011, while N1.17billion was appropriated. Over a billion was the shortfall.  In 2012,  N2.88billion was budgeted while N911million was appropriated.

    “In 2013, N1.19billion was budgeted while N1.1billion was appropriated. In 2014, N2.3billion was budgeted while N1.31billion was appropriated;  in 2015,  N2.59billion was budgeted out of which N1.60billion was appropriated. In 2016, the budget for SIWES is N2.85billion and nothing ws released.

    “We are not talking about the overhead that has ceased to be appropriated since 2014; so management in its wisdom felt that we need to have a way forward. A,s we continue with the backlog, we have discovered that many participants of SIWES have left the programme many years before they even got payment.”

    He lamented that the shoddy funding of the scheme was not helping the education of the children which is the key and licence to the world. “With education, you prepare the life long experience and survival of individuals, so we cannot handle this very sensitive scheme with levity,” he added.

    Ari said the management felt there will be need to have a regulators meeting, adding that these are the challenges associated with the scheme. “What are the ways forward? There will be a further meeting with all stakeholders of SIWES in the country where we will take a holistic position on the matter and address it.