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ITF Trains 450,000 Nigerians On Skills Acquisition

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6 years ago

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The Industrial Training Fund (ITF) says it has trained more than 450 Nigerians in skills acquisition programmes for employability and entrepreneurship between 2016 and 2018.
The ITF Director-General, Sir Joseph Ari, disclosed this in Abuja yesterday at a news conference where he presented the ITF 2019 Skills Intervention Programme.
Ari said that 90 per cent of the trained Nigerians were in productive endeavours either as paid employees or as entrepreneurs.
“There is no doubt that unemployment has wrought a terrible damage on all facets of our national life. No reasonable analysis will divorce unemployment from the needless incidences of violence that has claimed thousands of lives nationwide.
“It will equally be difficult to separate rising criminality and harmful social vices that are being perpetrated by Nigerians because of unemployment and attendant poverty.
“Consequently, our population that ordinarily should be our resources has become an albatross because we cannot provide a greater proportion of our population with a source of livelihood,” he said.
The director-general said that the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report of last quarter of 2018 revealed the level of unemployment and increase in employment between 2017 and 2018 in the country.
“The number of Nigerians without jobs between fourth quarter of 2017 and third quarter of 2018 increased from 17.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2017 to 20.9 million in the third quarter of 2018.
“This is despite the fact that the number of people in employment increased from 68.4 million in the third quarter of 2015 to 68.72 million in the third quarter of 2016.
“It also increased from 69.09 million in the third quarter of 2017 to 69.53 million in the third quarter of 2018,” he said.
According to him, the statistics are scary and staggering and should be a source of worry.
Ari said that the Federal Government had made tremendous efforts to create jobs as reflected in the increase of the number of employed people as cited in the NBS report.
He reiterated ITF’s commitment to equipping many more Nigerians with skills for employability and entrepreneurship in order to create jobs and reduce poverty in line with its mandate and policy objectives of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
He appealed to the media to help in sensitisation to educate governments and critical stakeholders on the need for skills acquisition in the country to stem some noticeable vices.
Our correspondent reports that ITF engages Nigerians in meaningful economic ventures through social investment and skills acquisition programmes.

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Kenyan Runners Dominate Berlin Marathons

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22 hours ago

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September 22, 2025

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Kenya made it a clean sweep at the Berlin Marathon with Sabastian Sawe winning the men’s race and Rosemary Wanjiru triumphing in the women’s.

Sawe finished in two hours, two minutes and 16 seconds to make it three wins in his first three marathons.

The 30-year-old, who was victorious at this year’s London Marathon, set a sizzling pace as he left the field behind and ran much of the race surrounded only by his pacesetters.

Japan’s Akasaki Akira came second after a powerful latter half of the race, finishing almost four minutes behind Sawe, while Ethiopia’s Chimdessa Debele followed in third.

“I did my best and I am happy for this performance,” said Sawe.

“I am so happy for this year. I felt well but you cannot change the weather. Next year will be better.”

Sawe had Kelvin Kiptum’s 2023 world record of 2:00:35 in his sights when he reached halfway in 1:00:12, but faded towards the end.

In the women’s race, Wanjiru sped away from the lead pack after 25 kilometers before finishing in 2:21:05.

Ethiopia’s Dera Dida followed three seconds behind Wanjiru, with Azmera Gebru, also of Ethiopia, coming third in 2:21:29.

Wanjiru’s time was 12 minutes slower than compatriot Ruth Chepng’etich’s world record of 2:09:56, which she set in Chicago in 2024.

 

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NIS Ends Decentralised Passport Production After 62 Years

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22 hours ago

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September 22, 2025

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The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has officially ended passport production at multiple centres, transitioning to a single, centralised system for the first time in 62 years.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, made the disclosure during an inspection of the Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja, last Thursday.
He stated that since the establishment of NIS in 1963, Nigeria had never operated a central passport production centre, until now, marking a major reform milestone.
“The project is 100 per cent ready. Nigeria can now be more productive and efficient in delivering passport services,” Tunji-Ojo said.
He explained that old machines could only produce 250 to 300 passports daily, but the new system had a capacity of 4,500 to 5,000 passports every day.
“With this, NIS can now meet daily demands within just four to five hours of operation,” he added, describing it as a game-changer for passport processing in Nigeria.
“We promised two-week delivery, and we’re now pushing for one week.
“Automation and optimisation are crucial for keeping this promise to Nigerians,” the minister said.
He noted that centralisation, in line with global standards, would improve uniformity and enhance the overall integrity of Nigerian travel documents worldwide.
Tunji-Ojo described the development as a step toward bringing services closer to Nigerians while driving a culture of efficiency and total passport system reform.
According to him, the centralised production system aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for improved service delivery.
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FG To Roll Out Digital Public Infrastructure, Data Exchange, Next Year 

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22 hours ago

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September 22, 2025

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The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has announced plans to roll out Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and the Nigerian Data Exchange (NGDX) platforms across key sectors of the economy, starting in early 2026.
Director of E-Government and Digital Economy at NITDA, Dr. Salisu Kaka, made the disclosure in Abuja during a stakeholder review session of the DPI and NGDX drafts at the Digital Public Infrastructure Live Event.
The forum, themed “Advancing Nigeria’s Digital Public Infrastructure through Standards, Data Exchange and e-Government Transformation,” brought together regulators, state governments, and private sector stakeholders to harmonise inputs for building inclusive, secure, and interoperable systems for governance and service delivery.
According to Kaka, Nigeria already has several foundational elements in place, including national identity systems and digital payment platforms.
What remains is the establishment of the data exchange framework, which he said would be finalised by the end of 2025.
“Before the end of this year and by next year we will be fully ready with the foundational element, and we start dropping the use cases across sectors,” Kaka explained.
He stressed that the federal government recognises the autonomy of states urging them to align with national standards.
“If the states can model and reflect what happens at the national level, then we can have a 360-degree view of the whole data exchange across the country and drive all-of-government processes,” he added.
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