The Industrial Training Fund (ITF), according to its Director-General, Prof. Longmas Wapmuk, is with the execution of its mandate. It cannot meet up because of non-remittance of the one per cent employers’contribution and inadequate funding, among others, raising doubts about the Fund meeting its two million jobs creation target, reports TOBA AGBOOLA
The Industrial Training Fund (ITF), a parastatal under the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, appears hamstrung. Its efforts at reducing unemployment through vocational training and production of skilled manpower are being hampered by the non-remittance of the one per cent employers’ contribution and inadequate funding.
Its immediate past Director-General, Prof. Longmas Sambo Wapmuk painted a bleak picture of things at the organisation. The Fund is struggling with the implementation of its mandate because of financial challenges. He said the Fund is targeting about N150 billion revenue yearly to meet its major short and medium term human capacity development programmes.
Wapmuk said the loss of jobs to Asians and other nationals because of lack of technical skills would become history if ITF gets adequate funds.
“The wholesome and proper implementation, or operation of the ITF Act 2011 as amended, holds immense benefit for the overall socio-economic well being and development of the nation, because poverty eradication is a vital tool in the war against insecurity, unemployment and hunger,” he said, adding that with proper funding, ITF will expand skill training centres across the country, ensuring that there are 37 of them across the country to cover 3,725 trade areas.
This, he said, would ensure the training of 25 students, amounting to a total of 23,125 highly skilled technicians yearly, adding that the six centres for Advanced Skills Training for Employment (CASTE) across the six geo-political zones, would also turn out 6,750 highly-qualified graduates yearly.
He said alot of research had focused on the performance of manpower training institutions and manpower needs in Africa, using the ITF, a key manpower training institution in Nigeria, as a case study.
However, experts said these benefits might elude Nigerians because of poor funding caused by the non-remittance of statutory contributions by operators in the industrial and Organised Private Sector. This was why the Director-General, Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA), Mr. Olusegun Oshinowo, decried the attitude of industrialists and business organisations for refusing, or failing to remit their training contributions to the ITF.
He said it was important for industrialists and enterprises to meet their financial responsibilities to the Fund so that it could continue to effectively carry out its activities.
Acknowledging that though, businesses and industries were set up for profit-making, Oshinowo urged firms that are not remitting to have a rethink.
A training expert and human resource professional, Kunle Rotimi, also said a change of attitude by stakeholders is needed to keep the ITF sustainably funded. According to him, the ITF remains one of the few organisations in the public sector that is fulfilling its mandate.
He explained that the initiative by ITF to establish industrial skills training centres in each state, and advanced skills training centres might never be realised if partners failed to live up to their responsibilities.
Noting that the ITF Act spells out sanctions for defaulters, Rotimi, however, admitted that the punishment may be hard to apply since they are not stiff
Besides, the ITF, he said, might be reluctant to apply sanctions to partners it intends to work with to address a major national challenge such as unemployment.
Former President, Nigeria Institute of Training and Development, Femi Kilajo, said the role of vocational training and skills in the eradication of youth unemployment is important. He emphasised that vocational training, including plumbing, industrial welding, iron work and fabrications, as well as computer skills, are being imparted on trainees by the ITF its centres.
Pointing out that it was technical and vocational skills adopted by China, Brazil, Japan, Singapore, Indonesia and Canada, among other developed nations, that made them strong in terms of economic and industrial output, Kilajo said technicians, welders amongst other numerous trade and crafts have been trained by the Fund, with all of them contributing their parts towards developing the economy.
The ITF was established in 1971 by the Federal Government to bridge the unemployment gap through the vocational training, and also produce skilled manpower for the industrial sector.
According to stakeholders, ITF stands out among all the interventionist agencies of the Federal and state governments that have been created to tackle the problem of acute unemployment in Nigeria due to its proactive and sustainable result-oriented methods.
Some graduates of the ITF’s Industrial Skills Training Centre (ISTC) in Ikeja, Lagos, who spoke with The Nation said apart from the provision of skilled manpower for the industrial sector, the ITF also goes the extra mile of ensuring that global standards are brought to bear in its training curriculum. This, they said, was made possible through the Fund’s understudying and engagement with major technical and vocational training institutions.
