ITF To Train 9,000 Youths

The Director-General, Industrial Training Fund, Sir Joseph Ari, has hinted that plans have been concluded to train 500 youths each in 19 states nationwide, in the new phase of its National Industrial Skills Development Programme (NISDP).
Ari, who made the disclosure in a statement released to the press, stated that NISDP was government’s initiative in the area of job and wealth creation, industrial growth and sustainable development, which is being implemented by ITF.
According to him, “as part of the contribution to the actualisation of the initiative, the ITF will commence the next phase of NISDP this March.”
The ITF boss continued, “under this phase, the programme will provide requisite employable skills to 500 Nigerians from each of the 18 states of the federation that have been earmarked to benefit from the programme. The states are Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa Kano, Kebbi, Kogi, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Rivers, Taraba and Yobe.”
Ari further noted that the trainees would undergo training in over 30 trades and crafts, including tailoring and fashion design, paint making, bead making, plumbing and pipe fitting, farming, confectionery, welding and fabrication.
Other trades, the statement added, are Information and Communication and Technology (ICT), electrical installation, carpentry and woodwork, cosmetology, GSM repairs, and Plaster of Paris (POP) among others.
He also said, “under a tripartite arrangement, between the ITF, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) and Bank of Industry (BoI), trainees would be provided hands-on-vocational and entrepreneurial skills as well as modalities for business financing.”
Ari, appealed to the governments of the benefiting states and other stakeholders to partner with the fund for the actualisation of the initiative and explained that they could do that through the provision of starter packs to the trainees in their various states, so that they could set up and eventually become entrepreneurs.