…Set to train 37,000 youths nationwide
By Bimbola Oyesola
CHAIRMAN, House Committee on Industry, Hon. Abubakar Hussaini Moriki, has pledged his committe’s readiness to champion and support the Industrial Training Fund’s (ITF) mandate, which is job creation.
He said the committee would support, through the amendment of the ITF Act, that is targeted at ensuring the achievement of the Fund’s mandate
Speaking in Lagos during his visit to the ITF office, Hon. Moriki also promised to work with the ITF to resolve the lingering problem of appropriations for the Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES).
He lamented that the capital component of the budget of the scheme. was omitted in the 2016 budget, but however advised that it should be included in the capital budget of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment for the year 2017.
He said: “Like you said as Legislators, we enact laws; we also amend existing laws to ensure that they conform with contemporary realities.
“Let me reiterate to you that as a Committee, we will champion the cause of any enactments or amendments or whatever, which you want the National Assembly to do in order to improve on your mandate as you have appealed to us”.
Earlier the acting Director-General, ITF, Mr Dickson Onuoha, said. ITF is set to deploy its Mobile Training Units recently acquired for training of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in order to equip them with skills to fast track their re-integration into the society as well as drive the Federal Government’s focus on job creation, poverty eradication and economic diversification.
Onuoha said the deployment of the Mobile Training Units was one of the several initiatives and strategies that the Fund had embarked upon since February, when he assumed duty.
“Management has commenced series of initiatives and strategies and expanded existing ones including setting in motion processes for the establishment of Sector Skills Councils (SSCs) to provide opportunity for evaluation/validation of skills requirements at the National and State levels on a periodic basis; expansion of the Technical Skills Development Project (TSDP) a joint programme with the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), to train 50 youth per Centre through the “Brown Field Model” using existing Training Centres of the Organised Private Sector”, he said
He said the introduction of Graduate Re-skilling programme is for the purpose of re-skilling 500 graduates of Engineering and Technology with Vocational and entrepreneurial skills in each of the geo-political zones; review of the ITF/DVT (German Chamber of Crafts and Commerce) to train apprentices in line with German Dual System; equipping and retooling of existing Skills Training Centres; procurement of Mobile Training Units which shall be deployed soon for training of persons who could not access training at the formal Skills Training Centres and also for training of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) to fast track their reintegration into society, among others.
The Acting DG said that arrangements were at an advanced stage for the take-off of the 1st batch of the 5th phase of the National Industrial Skills Development Programme in 18 States of the Federation and the FCT.
He added that the training programme would provide skill training to 1000 youths from each state of the federation.