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ITF, ASSBIFI seek national skills policy on job creation

NIGERIA needs a skills policy to get out of economic woods, Industrial Training Fund (ITF) Director-General Dr Juliet Chukkas-Onaeko has said.

She said the country was yet to attain its economic and industrial potential because of lack of such policy.

Chukkas-Onaeko spoke at a capacity building programme organised by the Labour Writers Association of Nigeria (LAWAN), in Abeokuta, Ogun State, at the weekend. Its theme was Why Nigeria Needs a Skills Policy for Media Practitioners .

She said the ITF has partnered the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) in identifying the urgent need for a national skills policy. The agency has conceptualised and initiated plans for a summit coming up next month in Abuja, she said.

The summit, she said, will identify and discuss key issues and challenges inhibiting skills and manpower development.

“Nigeria with over 170 million citizens, seventh largest population in the world, 69 million workforce and an age bracket of 18 years in median, making her youngest globally by more than 20 per cent, has no reason not to create and export jobs like other developed nations earning revenue from skills exportation,” she said.

Represented by ITF’s Assistant Director and Area Manager in Ogun State Mrs. Yinka Shodunke, she said the summit would assist in the holistic implementation of the Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP), as skills development constitutes an integral part and enabler for achieving and surpassing the NIRP objectives.

She said: “The ITF under the current leadership is also undergoing positive and very far reaching reforms of charting a new strategic direction for the fund, part of which is the skills summit, which will drive the facilitation and scaling up of job creation through the training and re-skilling of more than five million youths annually.”

The DG identified 10 skills that would make journalists more skilful at their work and prepare them for challenges that lay ahead.

Other resource persons at the programme were the National President of the Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions (ASSBIFI), Comade Olusola Salako, who was the chairman of the event; the Director, International Press Centre, Mr. Lanre Arogundade and a media consultant, Mr Osa Director.

Speaking on Media Entrepreneurship; Getting Real Life Skills to Start or Grow Your Business, Salako said media practitioners should look inwards for what could sustain them, adding that every journalist cannot be publisher at the end of the day.

Salako said anybody who wants to be economically stable after retirement should ask himself whether he caould rise to the top of his profession even after committing everything into the job. He said if the answer is no, then the worker needed to start looking elsewhere for survival.

He said investing in agriculture is key as it was the sector the country used as launch pad to kick-start the economy early at independence until the discovery of ‘lazy money’ through oil which changed everything and destabilised the economy.

“As media men, investments should be made on finances that come in now for a better tomorrow and you can organise yourself into a cooperative body to give yourselves loans for development and not to live ostentatious and fake lives, which some bankers are known for and which cannot guarantee a future as any employer can lay off any worker at anytime as he/she deems fit without explanation,” he said.

He said investment in agriculture and properties has made ASSBIFI a model union for others to emulate. According to him, the union pays N2million monthly as affiliate fee to the Trade Union Congress (TUC), has over 40 members in TUC and a wage bill of over N3million.

Arogundade, while elaborating on how journalists can equip themselves for a better future, said journalists need to redefine themselves to be able to connect to the readers and carve a niche for themselves.

Speaking on What Works and What Gets In the Way, he said any media practitioner interested in establishing a media outfit must be prepared to re-evaluate himself by asking questions that only him could answer.

He said journalists need to take up opportunities now before it is too late to better themselves as the society is changing due to the social media that is posing challenges. He said any media entrepreneur can take advantage of the social media to be relevant in the scheme of things.

October 23, 2015
ITF seeks pact on training

The Ondo/Ekiti Area Manager of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Mr Tayo Salami, is seeking partnership between AAUA and ITF of training.

Salami, who assumed office in May, made the request when he visited the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Igbekele Ajibefun, last week.

He urged the VC to extend the same privilege the agency enjoyed for training of its workers during his tenure as Rector of Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, RUGIPO to AAUA.

“I am aware that ITF enjoyed a lot of support from you when you were the Rector of Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, RUGIPO. ITF is not meant to train students only, but also the workforce. Since you have been our partner from RUGIPO, we want to appeal to you that anytime we call on you for participant drive, kindly, answer our call in this regard,” he said.

Ajibefun thanked the ITF team for its commitment and promised to address the request.

“We are going to extend the kind of relationship we had with your predecessors to your team. We are going to sustain the current areas of our collaboration and look at other areas where we can collaborate such that both of us will benefit,” he said.

he Ondo/Ekiti Area Manager of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Mr Tayo Salami, is seeking partnership between AAUA and ITF of training.

Salami, who assumed office in May, made the request when he visited the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Igbekele Ajibefun, last week.

He urged the VC to extend the same privilege the agency enjoyed for training of its workers during his tenure as Rector of Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, RUGIPO to AAUA.

“I am aware that ITF enjoyed a lot of support from you when you were the Rector of Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, RUGIPO. ITF is not meant to train students only, but also the workforce. Since you have been our partner from RUGIPO, we want to appeal to you that anytime we call on you for participant drive, kindly, answer our call in this regard,” he said.

Ajibefun thanked the ITF team for its commitment and promised to address the request.

“We are going to extend the kind of relationship we had with your predecessors to your team. We are going to sustain the current areas of our collaboration and look at other areas where we can collaborate such that both of us will benefit,” he said.

October 1, 2015
ITF, NIPC to promote women, youth entrepreneurship growth

The Industrial Training Fund (ITF) and the Nigeria Investment Promotion Council, (NIPC) are to sign a Memorandum of Understanding that would facilitate the training and development of women and youth entrepreneurs.

ITF is also set to host the first-ever National Skills Summit to revive the manpower sector and change the face of training, skills development, job creation and entrepreneurship in Nigeria.

ITF Director-General/Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Juliet Chukkas-Onaeko, made this known while receiving the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Council, (NIPC), Mrs. Uju Hassan-Baba, in her office in Abuja.

Mrs. Chukkas-Onaeko said the agency was mindful of President Muhammadu Buhari’s disposition towards youth empowerment and job creation to address unemployment, pointing out that ITF has realigned some of its activities to enable it drive change in that direction.

She said capacity building for women entrepreneurs is one of ITF’s areas of focus, noting that the fund would also continue to train women and youths in book keeping, business decision making and identification of markets for products.

Pledging to broaden the synergy for manpower development, particularly in the non-oil sectors, Mrs Chukkas-Onaeko and Hassan-Bada noted that the collaboration was critical to effective local skills acquisition and manpower development for driving diversification.

According to Mrs Chukkas-Onaeko, ITF is shifting focus from dependence on oil.

She said with its abundant manpower deposits, Nigeria could become one of the most industrialised nations in the world.

ITF, she said, has raised a business training team that can handle the training of women and youth entrepreneurs. ITF, she said, has over 1,000 trainers that provide services in basically all sectors of the economy.

Mrs Chukkas-Onaeko stressed the need for local skill development in other sectors of the economy that are of comparative advantage to the country.

Empowering women, she said, was critical to ITF’s agenda as well, adding that both agencies have agreed to collaborate on capacity development for women entrepreneurs along the agricultural value chain.

September 19, 2015
Govt to save N180b in new training scheme, says ITF chief

An initiative of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) to engage the services of Nigeria Professionals abroad to begueath requisite skills to youths, will result in about N180billion savings for the Federal Government.

ITF Director-General, Dr. Juliet Chukkas-Onaeko, who stated this yesterday in Lagos at an interactive session with stakeholders on the need for partnership towards the successful implementation of its mandate in line with the skills needs of Nigeria, said ITF-Diaspora volunteer skills development programme, has been designed to upgrade the quality of skills in Nigeria to international standards at little or no cost to the Federal Government.

She said Diaspora Nigerian professionals would be engaged voluntarily on what she tagged, “first-rate skills training for Nigerian youths through the Industrial Training Fund’s Brain Gain initiative.”

Mrs. Chukkas-Onaeko, said the Brain-Gain initiative, will be powered by Nigerian experts in the Diaspora who have volunteered to give back to their home country through direct knowledge and technology transfer at no cost to the ITF.

She said the Nigerian experts, who are specialists in various high-tech sectors, would work with the Fund, based on a yearly volunteer calendar that would ensure that the target of an annual quality training for you, we have mapped out plans to work with not less than 10,000 in renewable energy, robotics engineering, hospitality, oil and gas, and petrochemicals among others, in the next three years.

“We have been able to identify experts who have skills to contribute to this programme. But in the first phase, we are considering a conservative number of just 10,000. Most of these experts are professionally and financially accomplished people who are willing to play this role at their own cost.”

She said analysts have put the cost of retaining an expert in the Diaspora under the ITF training scheme at N500,000 monthly. This is a very conservative figure, and it is the amount that would have been spent hiring each volunteer trainer for the programme.

“When this is computed for a three-year period, the total amount of money that would be saved by the government comes to around N180 billion for 10,000 volunteers in three years.”

Mrs. Chukkas-Onaeko also called for partnership and support from all stakeholders and employers of labour in the country, stressing that, for the programme to be very successful, other cost components of the programme, such as air fare and insurance, could be further volunteered by stakeholders.

“For example, we are looking at a situation where airlines operating in Nigeria will voluntarily provide free flight tickets for these experts to further reduce the cost to them and increase the number of experts who will volunteer. Insurance companies can also come along to insure these experts to make them more comfortable to carry out their assignments,” she said.

She noted that, in view of the numerous developmental challenges confronting Nigeria as a nation and the unwavering resolve and commitment of the Federal Government to initiate transformational changes that would place the country on the trajectory of sustained economic growth, it had become imperative for the ITF, as the foremost manpower development agency, to review its strategies and modus operandi.

September 18, 2015
ITF laments reduced enrolment into technical colleges

Director General of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) Dr. Juliet Chukkas-Onaikon has decried the declining percentage of enrollment into technical colleges.

She spoke with reporters at the Centre for Excellence in Bukuru, Jos, Plateau State yesterday.

ITF is the federal establishment responsible for man-power training and development for industries in the country.

Chukkas-Onaikon said: “Our findings have proven that the enrollment into technical colleges especially polytechnics has dropped as low as 20% while enrollment into universities has taken 80%.

“Nigerian youths are more interested in obtaining degrees that will fetch them white collar jobs and not certificates that will give the skills.”

The DG, who described the trend as negative for the industrial development plan of the federal government, said ITF would strive hard to close the widening gap.

This, she said, becomes imperative for Nigeria to succeed in its industrial revolution plan.

“We have embarked on holistic gap survey to identify the skill gaps in the country. We are going to follow this up with a national skill summit to chart a way forward for skill development to empower the unemployed youths and create jobs for them.

“Unless we do that, foreign expatriate will always come to take the opportunity and fill up our skill requirement in this country at the detriment of our youths,” the DG further stated.

She added: “ITF will also expose Nigerians to special training to acquire knowledge in modern technological know-how.”

August 23, 2015
ITF’s skills acquisition scheme for internally displaced persons begins

• CPC opens Consumer Voice on TV

The Industrial Training Fund (ITF) has finalised plans to commence a skills acquisition project for Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) in Nigeria.

The initiative, according to its Director-General, Mrs. Juliet Chukkas-Onaeko, is in line with the Federal Government’s commitment to the reduction of poverty and crime across the country.

She spoke when she paid an unscheduled visit to the camps of the internally displaced persons in Jos.

Meanwhile, Consumer Protection Council (CPC) said it will begin a consumer education television programme today to equip consumers with the necessary skills for market interactions.

In a statement, CPC said the new move was designed to raise the bar of consumer education for Nigerian consumers to assume their rightful kingship position in their interactions in the market place.

The ITF chief assured the IDPs that the agency, in line with its mandate, would provide vocational and technical trainings and help open up employment opportunities, noting that the training programmes would kick off very soon.

August 20, 2015
ITF partners Germany on skills acquisition program

The Industrial Training Fund (ITF) is partnership with the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce, to develop industrial skills for Nigerians.

The partnership is to work out a robust skills development for young Nigerians in the use of modern technology in key areas such as wielding and electronic among others.

The Director-General, ITF, Dr Juliet Chukkas-Onaeko, while speaking during a meeting with representatives of the chamber said the partnership would help to improve the quality of vocational training in Nigeria.

She said, “The initiative was timely owing to the huge tasks before the agency in the training of about two million artisans annually.

“Even before the collaboration, the agency had already started looking at adoption of the dual educational vocational system in its skills acquisition program.

“The dual vocational duration program is something we consider seriously and I think we are positive that we can move this collaboration to another level.

“I want to see what you require of us to be able to make this work better. We are willing to provide all we can to ensure that you are given a smooth sail in the next phase of this program.”

The Leader of the German team, and Managing Director, Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Germany, Mr Robert Malzacher, said skills acquisition program would be relevant, efficient, effective, impactful and sustainable.

He said in implementing the program, ITF will play a major role in the expansion of the program to other states.

July 14, 2015
ITF begins 2m yearly jobs scheme for youths

Nigerian youths are to benefit from two million jobs yearly through the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) skill acquisition and employment creation programme.

ITF Director-General Mrs. Juliet Chukkas-Onaeko said the agency had finalised the scheme’s structure and that it planned to achieve this by collaborating with the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA).

She spoke at the weekend in Lagos at the unveiling of the ITF-NECA Technical Skill Development Project for Ruff ‘n’ Tumble/Betti-O School of Fashion Design in Lagos.

Mrs. Chukkas-Onaeko said: “The plan is to train two million youths annually and put them to work. Already, we have hit the ground running to ensure that we even do much more. We are also coming up with the youth lounges at all our offices across the nation because we want to better engage the youth.

“If we catch the youth and direct them to focus on productive skills and businesses, we would be doing this country a lot of good.”

This scheme, she said, was in line with the commitment of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to reduce the country’s unemployment level through job creation.

She added that the fund had also concluded a survey to determine the top 100 businesses of interest to youths in a bid to sharpen their skills in preferred areas as well as help actualise their goals by providing job opportunities to benefit the youth and the nation.

She lauded the complimentary roles played by NECA, which had created more training facilities by using its member-organisations’ training facilities to train youths.

“What we do is that we reach out to companies that are already contributing to the ITF and have a structured system and a state where they can carry out training programmes within their facilities. We work through NECA, engage them and shortlist them to provide training for our youths,” the director general explained.

The Project Director, ITF-NECA Technical Skills Development Project, Mrs. Helen Jemerigbe, said prospects for employment under the skill programme were very high.

“The skills being addressed by the project were identified through a survey. The programme is so big that we need so many more Nigerians to participate in it,” she said.

The ITF is in the process of finalising the first National Skill Gap Assessment survey for the country, in partnership with the United Nations Development Organisation (UNIDO).

It is a nationwide skill gap assessment to first uncover what skills are lacking in the labour force, those needed by employers in the market and the skills which will be needed in future.

July 13, 2015
ITF, Dangote train 3,500 artisans

The Industrial Training Fund (ITF) and the Dangote Group have empowered 3,500 artisans in construction to increase local participation in the sector.

ITF’s Director-General, Dr Juliet Chukkas-Onaeko, said at the weekend at the closing of the workshop for artisans under the first phase of the deal in Lagos that the training was aimed at stopping the incessant building collapse in the country and the over dependence on artisans from neighbouring West African countries.

ITF collaborated with the Cement Technology Institute of Nigeria (CTIN) to design the programme to enhance the skills, knowledge and attitude of the craftsmen to address performance gaps.

She said the skills would allow more Nigerians to be active players in the industry and if further encouraged, Nigeria will soon be exporter of labour.

Mrs Chukkas-Onaeko, represented by the Deputy Director of the ITF, Mr Abdulrasaq Adeniran, said the artisans were trained in 10 locations across the country in seven trades which include: masons, tillers, plaster of paris (POP) installers, block makers, plumbers, electricians and carpenters in the industry.

Besides Lagos, the other venues, which will benefit from the training, according to her, are Abuja, Benin, Sokoto, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Ibadan, Minna, Bauchi and Kano.

On the methodology of the training, Mrs Chukkas-Onaeko said it is free, as 50 participants per trade were allowed in each venue, with lectures, discussions, site visits, syndicate group work and practical demonstration explored to impart the skills in the artisans.

She said ITF is committed to its objectives of producing middle and high level skilled manpower that will drive the nation’s economy forward, through the provision of global standards technical and vocational education that will eradicate unemployment, particularly amongst youths.

On the training, the Chairman, Board of Trustees, CTIN, Alhaji Aliko Dangote said it was to upgrade and enhance the quality of the Nigeria artisans and craftsmen in the construction industry by providing them with requisite knowledge and skills that will make them more efficient and effective in the discharge of their tasks.

Dangote, represented by the Executive Director, Stakeholder Management and Corporate Communications, Dangote Group, Mr Mansur Ahmed, said it was also to discourage the importation of foreign artisans and craftsmen who have displaced Nigerians from the construction industry.

He said active participation of Nigerians would also increase the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country and reduce foreign capital flight and despite being in 14 countries in Africa with their artisans well trained, it is only normal for artisans to be well trained to know their job.

He said the second phase of the training will start soon as the importance of the training to the country is too enormous.

Also, the Chairman, Lagos branch of the Block Makers Association of Nigeria, Mr Okunola Abegunde, said he learnt what he had not learn before in his 20 years experience as a block maker at the training and thank the organisers of the programme.

June 29, 2015
How ITF is bridging manpower gap

Despite its challenges, the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) is striving to bridge the manpower gap through aggressive training. The agency has trained 237,561 persons from 5, 815 organisations in the last one year, reports TOBA AGBOOLA.

For the nation to be out of its economic woes, constant training and retraining programmes are required for the youths to fit into new and existing jobs. One of the reasons for its economic woes, according to experts, is lack of training, which has created a huge gap in manpower. This, perhaps, was the reason for the establishment of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) some 43 years ago.

According to its Director-General (DG), Dr Juliet Chukkas-Onaeko, the agency has intensified efforts at closing the industrial gap. Since its inception, the ITF has fed the industry with able hands, thus sustaining the measured growth that has so far been recorded.

The fund, under the current DG, has trained many youths on skills acquisition in the last one year. In the last year, the ITF has trained 237,561 Nigerians from 5, 815 organisations.

Also, 704 special intervention programmes were implemented, out of which 202,560 trainees secured employment. Not done, about 16,211 Nigerian women benefitted from specialised intervention programmes of the ITF and 83, 050 students equally participated in the Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme.

The agency has also helped in training 1000 youths each from the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). All these efforts were geared towards bridging the wide industrial gap in the country.

In a chat with the DG, at the graduation ceremony of the inaugural set of automobile technicians trained by Truck Masters Nigeria Ltd, under the ITF-NECA Technical Skills Development Project (TSDP), she claimed that her administration has upgraded the bandwidth of the Fund’s communication system to serve current resource requirements, just as the agency’s library was digitized and revenue and reimbursement portals established.

The agency, she said, also entered into collaborations with Cement Technology Institute of Nigeria, for the training of 4000 artisans; Wavecrest College of Hospitality, for revamping MSN Culinary Department. Others are Nigeria Institute of Builders and Shell Petroleum Development Company.

According to her, the agency also strengthened its collaboration with Nigerian’s Employers Consultative Association (NECA) and expanded the ITF/DVT (Germany Chamber of Crafts and Commerce) to train apprentices in line with Germany’s dual system. She noted that her administration last year graduated the first batch of MSTC Trainees, reviewed and secured approval for a new staff regulations and conditions of service.

The ITF, Dr Chukkas-Onaeko said, is also engaging relevant stakeholders on training and effective implementation of its mandate, and sensitising Nigerians on the need to transit to non oil economy.

Highlighting how the fund is initiating proactive measures to achieve its mandate, Onaeko said students under its training programmes are challenged to impart knowledge provided by the fund and take charge of leading the nation and the continent into an era of sustainable economic development.

She said the vision of economic leadership on the continent by the country can only be achieved when adequate attention and commitment are shown by stakeholders in the quest to imbibe the nation’s youths with continuous vocational and technical knowledge that can create jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities for them and others.

According to her, trainees sponsored by the Fund in collaboration with the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) and other organisations would soon get international certifications.

She said ITF is working on getting an international certification programme for its trainees to enable them work anywhere in the world. According to her, the Fund has also been working with various established players in various industries such as agriculture, oil and gas, and automobile maintenance in order to train more youths.

The ITF’s continuous training through these collaborations, she said, is a move to support the government in reducing the rate of unemployment by placing technical education in the front burner. “I want to congratulate the graduating students, being the first set under the Automobile and Heavy Duty Maintenance and Technician Programme. With government’s automobile policy, I think this is the best time to take up such a task as taking up a skill in automobile industry, especially for heavy duty trucks, which are more complex,” she said.

According to her, the initiative is a major move to support government’s efforts at reducing the rate of unemployment among the youths. “Most importantly, it has been helping the players in the various industries to raise new breeds of excellently skilled youths to work for them here instead of relying on expatriates,” she said, adding that, “the ITF has been working on certifications for our trainees so that they can work anywhere in the world, because our programmes seem not to be enough”. “The certification, when ready will have our trainees take exams to qualify them for a diploma in the field of their training,” she said.

Dr Onaeko said this was necessary because it has been difficult to attract young people to technical skills because of the poor remuneration and recognition that the sector has been suffering. ”We have, therefore, been training our students not only on skilled manpower, but alongside good work ethics, good customer care, and also entrepreneurial skills,” she said.

NECA’s Director-General, Mr. Segun Oshinowo, said the purpose of the synergy is to reduce the rate of unemployment among youths by training them on how they can create jobs even with little capital at their disposal. “By being here, we hope to create jobs by getting the youths trained so that they can stand on their own,” he said, noting that there are huge potentials in the agricultural sector especially, in the area of aquaculture.

The NECA boss appealed to the government to support the initiatives with funds as both organisations lack financial capacity to carry out their assignments.

Managing Director, Truckmasters Ltd, Mr Tony Arenyeka, lauded the ITF-NECA collaboration for impacting the lives of the youths through technical skills acquisition. Arenyeka said Truckmasters Academy was training in areas of specialisation in electronics, mechanical panel beating and spraying, and workshop administration.

The Project Manager, TSDP, Mrs Helen Jemerigbe, said the training was a baby of the project, which has been on for six years. She said the project had been working with 12 companies, and technical colleges all over the country, and the training with Truckmasters Nigeria Ltd was the result of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in 2014.

June 11, 2015