Established in 1971 as a grade ‘A’ parastatal under the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment to promote and encourage the acquisition of skills critical to national economic development, the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) is supposed to play a significant role in actualising the country’s objectives in the areas of industrial, technical, commercial and vocational development. Through its Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES), the ITF prepares students of universities, polytechnics, colleges of agriculture, education and technology for the practical work scenario they will face in the workplace after their academic studies. In addition to the SIWES programme, the ITF is also meant to stimulate performance, improve productivity and induce value-added production in industry and commerce through capacity building for graduates and youth self-employment to boost small scale industrialisation in the economy.
It is sad that over 50 years after its establishment, there are indications that the ITF is failing appallingly in living up to the obligations for which it was set up. According to media reports, large numbers of undergraduates of tertiary institutions in Nigeria who undergo the compulsory SIWES for durations ranging from four months or six months to one year have not been paid the stipulated stipends they are entitled to upon completion of the programme several years after graduation.
Surprisingly, the stipend is not in any way substantial or out of the ordinary. Upon completion of the training, an IT student from any university, polytechnic, college of education, agriculture or technology is entitled to a sum of N2,500 per month. This means that students on a six-month internship should receive N15,000 and those on a four-month internship will receive N10,000. The act setting up the ITF requires that every employer with five employees or more or who make an annual profit of N50 million and above should remit one percent of their annual payroll to the fund.
What then can be the cause of non-payment of the stipends to those who are legitimately entitled to it? Can it be that the stipulated categories of employers are not contributing their quota to the fund as legally required? If so, what has been done by the ITF to bring such culpable employers to book and ensure that they fulfill the requirements of the law? But what compounds the matter is that it appears that participants in the programme are selectively paid with some receiving the stipend and others denied without any explanation even when they did the mandatory IT at the same period.
An institution like the ITF needs to operate with a higher degree of transparency and integrity. For instance, the public should know when funds for the operation of the SIWES have been released so that no excuses can be given for non-payment of the stipends even when funds have been made available. Both the non-payment of the stipends as and at when due and selective payment without explanation give room for massive corruption. Even though the amount paid per trainee is paltry, it amounts to humongous sums if criminally appropriated by a few unscrupulous officials.
We understand that part of the problem is the protracted economic crisis, with many companies only struggling to stay afloat, thus making it difficult for many applicant trainees to even find places to acquire the industrial work experience. Many of them may thus be just content to participate in the programme to fulfill all righteousness even without being paid their entitlement. But this is exceedingly unfair on the younger generation. In the first place, there is absolutely no reason why the economy must continue to be ineptly managed by those in authority. And for as long as the ITF still exists as a legal entity, it has a responsibility to operate strictly in accordance with the law setting it up, particularly with regard to payment of stipends to trainees.
In its submission to the House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts in February, 2022, the ITF claimed that it spent N37.592 billion in 2018, N43.133 billion in 2019, N43.468 billion in 2020 and N43.947 billion in 2022, albeit without the requisite budgetary approval. But the question is, what were these funds expended on? And in 2022, the Director-General of the ITF, Mr Joseph Ari, said that the fund paid more than $1 billion to 87,537 students as training allowances. Yet, many students who participated in the scheme that year claimed they are yet to receive their allowances. There is certainly the need for an urgent forensic audit of the finances of the ITF and a total overhaul of its operations.