- Training the youths and the unemployed in occupational trades, the ITF-NECA TSDP example
A total of 45 trainees were recently awarded certificate of
competence in the Industrial Training Fund and Nigeria Employers’
Consultative Association (ITF – NECA) joint Technical Skills Development
Project (TSDP) Batch IV graduation ceremony.
Out of the number, Electrical and Electronics Maintenance (EEM) had 11; Mechanical Maintenance and Machining (MMM), Welding and Metal Fabrication Works (WFW) and Auto Mechanics Works (AMW), 9 respectively, while Instrumentation and Process Control had 7.
The ceremony, the third since the project was started four years ago, took place at the skills training centre, Olorunfunmi Street, off Kudirat Abiola Way, Ojota Lagos. The Special Guest of Honour was the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Olusegun Aganga. He was represented at the event by the House Committee Chairman on Industry, Trade and Investment, Honourable Mohammed Onawo.
The Chairman of the occasion and Managing Director, Vono Products Plc, Mrs. Titilola Bakare, expressed delight at the birth of the project, adding that in the economic history of a nation, no nation can advance locally, globally as well as attract foreign investment, without the shared requirement of manpower.
He hinted that Vono Products had benefited immensely from the programme, noting that every year, the company keeps having ITF’s Industrial Skills Training Centre (ISTC) attachés who help to improve the company’s needs. She commended the efforts of the initiators of the project, describing it as a welcome development. “Irrespective of the number of the graduates, this noble contribution would go a long way in filling the gap prevalent in the industries,” she said.
She congratulated the graduates for successfully completing the training and assured them that if they take their career seriously, they would go places. In her address, the Director General, Industrial Training Funds, Dr. (Mrs.) Juliet Chukkas-Onaeko who was participating in the centre’s graduating ceremony for the first time, noted that the event was an opportunity for ITF and NECA to showcase their contributions in Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) for the development of Nigeria.
“It is for this reason that the ITF keyed into the Nigerian Industrial Skills Development Programme (NISDP) in 2013,” she said. “The programme resulted in the training of over 37000 youths in Autotronics, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Tiling, Sewing and Knitting, Wedding and Fabrication.”
To accelerate the process of skills acquisition for the transformation agenda, Chukkas-Onaeko disclosed that the ITF was collaborating with the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) and Bank of Industry to implement the Nigeria Enterprise Development Programme (NEDEP), another plank of the NIPPR.
She explained that the aims of the programme were to provide relevant training for products of TVET and facilitate the transformation of technical skilled workers into entrepreneurs that can leverage their abilities and competences to establish and operate businesses successfully.
“There are various mechanisms for addressing issues of poverty and unemployment in the society. The most effective strategies include: political, social and economic empowerment,” she added. “And evidence abounds from the experiences of countries that have attained rapid industrial and economic development that TVET played a critical role in the process”.
Chukkas-Onaeko called on government to ensure that all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) comply with the Fund’s act by remitting 1 percent of their payroll for the purpose of promoting skills training. She advocated a strategy to resuscitate technical skills training that comprises short, medium and long-term plans.
“The short-term plan involves training youths and the unemployed in occupational trades for employment and job creation,” she explained. “The medium-term plan involves revamping existing vocational and technical training schools, by re-equipping them to commence training of artisans, craftsmen, and technicians, while the long term plan takes care of establishing new vocational and technical training schools in all parts of the country by federal, states and local governments to complement existing ones.”
She noted that the four point agenda of the Fund towards actualizing the collective aspiration of skills development for employment and job creation included: training of two million youths annually, automation of ITF processes to ensure efficient service delivery, collection of 100 percent of training contribution and making 100 percent payment of Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) allowance.
Also, the Director General, Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) Mr. Olusegun Oshinowo, noted that education was key and could make one successful but technical skill was more important. He added that the future was bright for vocational and technical skills. He advised the graduating trainees to be prepared to demonstrate what they learnt in the field adding that what was needed from them is diligence.
Chairman, ITF Governing Council, Dr. Mrs. Fariu Arebi, noted that the mandate to generate indigenous manpower sufficient to drive the industrial sector was central to the Fund’s focus, adding, “we are pursuing it will all vigour.”
She said that the primary focus of ITF was in line with the transformation agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan as enunciated in the policy directive of Dr. Olusegun Aganga to train two million Nigerians yearly. She disclosed that similar feats were showcased recently in the Fund’s Model Skills Training Centre in Abuja where it equally graduated some well-trained and skilled Nigerian youths who have successfully completed two-year technical skills programmes in some trade areas.
Tracing the history of centre’s journey which began in 1983 as a Vocational Training Centre, (VTC) with three trade skill areas before it was restructured as the Industrial Skills Training Centre (ISTC) in 1997, the Deputy Director and Training Manager, Mr. James Abimbola, noted that the centre has trained 2541 trainees in 239 programmes for 220 organizations in various categories.
He added that the centre was mandated to train and develop middle level skilled manpower with focus on employability in selected occupational areas, empower youths with multi-skills and entrepreneurial skills for job and wealth creation and certify trainees with certificate of competence (COC) for the labour market.
He added that the programme was designed to bridge the identified skills gap so as to meet the technical manpower requirement of the Nigerian economy. He noted that the programme was structured in such a way that it is 80 percent hands-on while the rest is theoretical.
Abimbola called on the Project’s Technical Board to look into the possibility of reintroducing grants to the trainees who may want to be self-employed since it was one of the objectives of the project. Special Guest and Deputy Speaker, Ogun State House of Assembly, Honourable Tola Banjo, charged the graduating trainees not to look back but form alumni. He promised, on behalf of Governor Ibikunle Amosun, to take the project to a new height in the state as he urged his colleagues in the parliaments to stop describing sharing of gifts to the people as empowerment. “Training the youths on skills acquisition is the proper empowerment,” he added.
In a valedictory remark on behalf of the trainees, Aniude Ikechukwu who was the best trainee in Welding and Fabrication and equally the overall best in all the trades expressed gratitude to the ITF boss and trainers for providing the needed support throughout the programme even as he pleaded with the management to assist in creating job opportunities for the rest of the graduating trainees who don’t have job so that they can contribute their quota in employment. To his colleagues, he said: “As you leave, celebrate what you have acquired and also be an instrument for others to be empowered.”
Out of the number, Electrical and Electronics Maintenance (EEM) had 11; Mechanical Maintenance and Machining (MMM), Welding and Metal Fabrication Works (WFW) and Auto Mechanics Works (AMW), 9 respectively, while Instrumentation and Process Control had 7.
The ceremony, the third since the project was started four years ago, took place at the skills training centre, Olorunfunmi Street, off Kudirat Abiola Way, Ojota Lagos. The Special Guest of Honour was the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Olusegun Aganga. He was represented at the event by the House Committee Chairman on Industry, Trade and Investment, Honourable Mohammed Onawo.
The Chairman of the occasion and Managing Director, Vono Products Plc, Mrs. Titilola Bakare, expressed delight at the birth of the project, adding that in the economic history of a nation, no nation can advance locally, globally as well as attract foreign investment, without the shared requirement of manpower.
He hinted that Vono Products had benefited immensely from the programme, noting that every year, the company keeps having ITF’s Industrial Skills Training Centre (ISTC) attachés who help to improve the company’s needs. She commended the efforts of the initiators of the project, describing it as a welcome development. “Irrespective of the number of the graduates, this noble contribution would go a long way in filling the gap prevalent in the industries,” she said.
She congratulated the graduates for successfully completing the training and assured them that if they take their career seriously, they would go places. In her address, the Director General, Industrial Training Funds, Dr. (Mrs.) Juliet Chukkas-Onaeko who was participating in the centre’s graduating ceremony for the first time, noted that the event was an opportunity for ITF and NECA to showcase their contributions in Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) for the development of Nigeria.
“It is for this reason that the ITF keyed into the Nigerian Industrial Skills Development Programme (NISDP) in 2013,” she said. “The programme resulted in the training of over 37000 youths in Autotronics, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Tiling, Sewing and Knitting, Wedding and Fabrication.”
To accelerate the process of skills acquisition for the transformation agenda, Chukkas-Onaeko disclosed that the ITF was collaborating with the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) and Bank of Industry to implement the Nigeria Enterprise Development Programme (NEDEP), another plank of the NIPPR.
She explained that the aims of the programme were to provide relevant training for products of TVET and facilitate the transformation of technical skilled workers into entrepreneurs that can leverage their abilities and competences to establish and operate businesses successfully.
“There are various mechanisms for addressing issues of poverty and unemployment in the society. The most effective strategies include: political, social and economic empowerment,” she added. “And evidence abounds from the experiences of countries that have attained rapid industrial and economic development that TVET played a critical role in the process”.
Chukkas-Onaeko called on government to ensure that all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) comply with the Fund’s act by remitting 1 percent of their payroll for the purpose of promoting skills training. She advocated a strategy to resuscitate technical skills training that comprises short, medium and long-term plans.
“The short-term plan involves training youths and the unemployed in occupational trades for employment and job creation,” she explained. “The medium-term plan involves revamping existing vocational and technical training schools, by re-equipping them to commence training of artisans, craftsmen, and technicians, while the long term plan takes care of establishing new vocational and technical training schools in all parts of the country by federal, states and local governments to complement existing ones.”
She noted that the four point agenda of the Fund towards actualizing the collective aspiration of skills development for employment and job creation included: training of two million youths annually, automation of ITF processes to ensure efficient service delivery, collection of 100 percent of training contribution and making 100 percent payment of Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) allowance.
Also, the Director General, Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) Mr. Olusegun Oshinowo, noted that education was key and could make one successful but technical skill was more important. He added that the future was bright for vocational and technical skills. He advised the graduating trainees to be prepared to demonstrate what they learnt in the field adding that what was needed from them is diligence.
Chairman, ITF Governing Council, Dr. Mrs. Fariu Arebi, noted that the mandate to generate indigenous manpower sufficient to drive the industrial sector was central to the Fund’s focus, adding, “we are pursuing it will all vigour.”
She said that the primary focus of ITF was in line with the transformation agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan as enunciated in the policy directive of Dr. Olusegun Aganga to train two million Nigerians yearly. She disclosed that similar feats were showcased recently in the Fund’s Model Skills Training Centre in Abuja where it equally graduated some well-trained and skilled Nigerian youths who have successfully completed two-year technical skills programmes in some trade areas.
Tracing the history of centre’s journey which began in 1983 as a Vocational Training Centre, (VTC) with three trade skill areas before it was restructured as the Industrial Skills Training Centre (ISTC) in 1997, the Deputy Director and Training Manager, Mr. James Abimbola, noted that the centre has trained 2541 trainees in 239 programmes for 220 organizations in various categories.
He added that the centre was mandated to train and develop middle level skilled manpower with focus on employability in selected occupational areas, empower youths with multi-skills and entrepreneurial skills for job and wealth creation and certify trainees with certificate of competence (COC) for the labour market.
He added that the programme was designed to bridge the identified skills gap so as to meet the technical manpower requirement of the Nigerian economy. He noted that the programme was structured in such a way that it is 80 percent hands-on while the rest is theoretical.
Abimbola called on the Project’s Technical Board to look into the possibility of reintroducing grants to the trainees who may want to be self-employed since it was one of the objectives of the project. Special Guest and Deputy Speaker, Ogun State House of Assembly, Honourable Tola Banjo, charged the graduating trainees not to look back but form alumni. He promised, on behalf of Governor Ibikunle Amosun, to take the project to a new height in the state as he urged his colleagues in the parliaments to stop describing sharing of gifts to the people as empowerment. “Training the youths on skills acquisition is the proper empowerment,” he added.
In a valedictory remark on behalf of the trainees, Aniude Ikechukwu who was the best trainee in Welding and Fabrication and equally the overall best in all the trades expressed gratitude to the ITF boss and trainers for providing the needed support throughout the programme even as he pleaded with the management to assist in creating job opportunities for the rest of the graduating trainees who don’t have job so that they can contribute their quota in employment. To his colleagues, he said: “As you leave, celebrate what you have acquired and also be an instrument for others to be empowered.”
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