Year 2021 Tasked Our Resilience And Innate Creativity – ITF DG, Sir Ari
Along the sidewalks and corridors of the annual Industrial Training Fund (ITF) Merit Award Ceremony held at the Multipurpose Complex and Gymnasium, ITF Headquarters, the Director-General and Chief Executive of the Fund, Sir Joseph Ntung Ari, fielded questions from journalists. From the economics of COVID-19 to international collaborations and skills development, Sir Ari showed how the Fund is responding to emergent and emerging trends, and strengthening and coordinating initiatives towards national economic growth. CHAMBERLAIN ODEY was there.
Please can you let us into why we are here today – this event is about what?
It is the ITF Merit Award Ceremony. It provides us with the platform to present our scorecard, recognise and celebrate staff and other stakeholders, whose individual and collective contributions were invaluable to the achievements of our corporate targets in the preceding year.
The year 2021, which we declared as the Year of Skills Escalation for Prosperity, was at once quite challenging as well as a very fulfilling year for us as an Organisation. It was challenging because it tasked our resilience and innate creativity. Nigeria, like the rest of the world, was still grappling with the crippling effects of the COVID-19 pandemic; a situation that was made worse by a myriad of other socio-economic problems that manifested in the form of unrelenting criminality across the nation, the soaring cost of living, rampant kidnappings and separatist agitations among others. As an institution that is reliant on a thriving economy and endless mobility, 2021 was therefore an extremely tough year on many levels.
Despite its many challenges, the year 2021 was also remarkable for us in some ways as we not only successfully celebrated our 50th Anniversary as an institution but also recorded outstanding achievements in all key result areas.
Our decision to declare the year 2021 as the “Year of Skills Escalation for Prosperity” was informed by the urgent need for us as the leading human capacity institution in Nigeria to step up our skills acquisition efforts so that as many Nigerians as possible are equipped with the requisite skills to assist individuals and corporate organisations overcome the effects of the pandemic and take advantage of the numerous opportunities that opened up as a result of the policies of the Federal Government. In light of our declaration, the Fund initiated and implemented several programmes that have had varying impacts on every sector of the national economy.
Do you have particular technical interventions that you initiated to overhaul your activities and redeem the apparent gloom that 2021 threatened?
Cognisant of the fact that technical skills are integral to the growth and development of societies across the globe, the incumbent Management since assumption of office in 2016, has been committed to equipping Nigerians with technical and vocational skills for employability and entrepreneurship. Countries like Germany, Switzerland, Malaysia, Brazil and China, have proven that effective utilization of the skills acquisition model remains the most sustainable solution to reducing poverty and unemployment, and a veritable catalyst for economic growth and development. In the ITF, we believe that Nigeria can do the same with similar results if skills acquisition is adequately funded. It is also our contention that until most Nigerians are equipped with competitive technical skills, we will, as a Nation, continue to fight a losing battle against the blights of poverty and unemployment and their attendant consequences.
Therefore, in the year 2021 and despite the challenges I alluded to earlier, we implemented the following skills intervention programmes, namely, the National Industrial Skills Development Programme (NISDP), Women Skills Empowerment Programme (WOSEP), Agri-preneurship Skills Empowerment Programme (AGSEP), Federal Government Skills Empowerment Programme (FEGOSEP), Special Skills Intervention Programme (SSIP), Modular Skills Development Programme, and Technical Skills Development Project (TSDP). Together, the programmes trained over 16,000 Nigerians that were empowered with start-up packs for them to set up on their own.
Similarly, the five ITF Skills Training Centres spread across the Federation trained a total of 3,397 Nigerians in various trades and crafts. A breakdown of the figure shows that the Industrial Skills Training Centre (ISTC), Ikeja, trained 436 Nigerians; Model Skills Training Centre (MSTC), Abuja, 763; Industrial Skills Training Centre (ISTC), Lokoja, 354; Industrial Skills Training Centre (ISTC), Kano, 294 and; the Centre for Excellence (CFE), Bukuru, 1550.
As a mark of our commitment to ensuring that more Nigerians acquire skills, we have commenced processes for the implementation of other skills intervention programmes this year. The Programmes earmarked for implementation are the Passion 2 Profession Programme (P2PP), Construction Skills Empowerment Programme (CONSEP), Women Skills Empowerment Programme (WOSEP), National Industrial Skills Development Programme (NISDP), Agri-preneurship Skills Empowerment Programme (AGSEP), Special Skills Development Programme (SSDP), ITF-NECA TSDP and, Skills Training and Empowerment Programme for the Physically Challenged (STEPP-C).
Apart from the NISDP that will be implemented in all the states of the Federation including the FCT, the rest of the skills intervention programmes will be shared amongst the states based on the likelihood of participants to eke out sustainable livelihoods because of the needs of the states for such particular skills.
One of the core functions of the Fund is the capacity building for employers of labour for them to be productive and to contribute meaningfully to the growth and development of the public and private sectors of the Nigerian economy. In this regard and to assist employers of labour to recover from the disruptions of the COVID- 19 Pandemic, in the year under review, the Fund implemented Three Hundred and Fifteen (315) scheduled training programmes for Three Thousand, Two Hundred and Twelve employees (3,212) from Eight Hundred and Twenty Eight (828) organisations. It also trained a total of Seven Thousand Seven Hundred and Seven (7,707) employees from Four Hundred and Sixty (460) companies under its unscheduled training programmes.
In addition, we carried out Performance and Productivity Improvement Surveys for 25 companies and developed and implemented 20 training programmes for Five Hundred and Forty-One (541) employees from the companies surveyed.
The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are important agents of economic growth and the engine room of most economies. It is especially so in Nigeria where the sector contributes over 50% to Nigeria’s GDP and employs over 80% of Nigeria’s workforce. It is in view of their importance that the ITF focuses on developing capacity for the sector. In the year under review, the Fund conducted Monitoring and Evaluation of MSMEs Clinics for one hundred (100) participants in Bauchi, Abia, Kano, Jigawa, and Plateau. It also carried out a Business Needs Assessment for 650 operators in the MSMEs sector in Ogun, Bayelsa, Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Rivers, Lagos, Oyo, Plateau, Yobe, Kano, and Taraba as well as organised MSMEs Clinics for 369 Enterprises in Jigawa, Gombe and Imo.
You haven’t said anything about research. Is there any link between research and these technical programmes?
In line with our enabling Act, the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) conducts research in relevant areas of the national economy. In the last few years, the Fund conducted several surveys including Skills Gap Assessment in Six Priority Sectors of the Nigerian economy in conjunction with the United Nations Development Organisation (UNIDO); Skills Gap in the Agro-Allied Industry; Manpower Needs in the Power Sector in the Nigerian Economy and; Skills Gap Assessment in Metal and Solid Minerals Sector in the Nigerian Economy. These surveys have greatly facilitated the decision making of policymakers and operators in all sectors of the national economy.
In the year under review, the Fund carried out a Skills Gap Assessment in the Maritime Sector in Nigeria, which will be formally presented to the public later this year. It also organised engagements with stakeholders on Labour Market Information (LMI) to address skills shortages in our labour market as well as conducted sensitization of stakeholders for the establishment of Sector Skills Councils.
In the area of programme development, the Fund developed Six (6) new training programmes, test ran 40 other programmes, reviewed 8 existing programmes and evaluated 40 programmes at the Area Offices. The new programmes developed are Workshop on Succession Management for Organisational Development; Workshop on Facility Management for Improved Service Delivery; Workshop on Laboratory Best Practices and Regulatory Requirements; Workshop on Best Practices on Finance and Treasury Management; Workshop on Emerging Trends in Taxes and Tax Administration and; Workshop on Marketing Analytics for Optimal Profitability.
Ten (10) other programmes, which have already been uploaded on the E-Learning Management System, were validated for content digitization and are available online for stakeholders. The programmes include Workshop on Re-engineering the Workplace in Challenging Times; Workshop on Reliability and Maintainability; Workshop on Talent Management and Succession Planning for Organisational Sustainability; Workshop on People Management Skills; Workshop on Basic Auto Diagnostic; Workshop on Optimizing Workforce Health and Safety; Workshop on Coaching and Mentoring for Organisational Development; Workshop on Skills Development on Administrative and Human Resource Officers; Workshop on Quality Assurance Management and; Workshop on Operational Risk Management for Banks and Allied Industries.
You earlier mentioned Germany and some other countries as examples. ln the course of these efforts, did you have any collaborations – cross border or otherwise?
It has become increasingly obvious that to succeed in today’s interwoven world, corporate organisations must seek collaborations and partnerships to achieve their corporate goals and objectives. In line with this, throughout its history, the ITF has pursued collaborations and partnerships with local and international organisations. Currently, the ITF is in active partnership with German Dual Vocational Training (DVT); Manufacturers’ Association of Nigeria (MAN); Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA); United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO); Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN); Bank of Industry (BoI); Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) and; Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB). Others include the Nigerian Air Force (NAF); Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA); Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development (FMYSD); National Youth Service Corps (NYSC); SENAI of Brazil, Institute of Technical Education Services (ITEES) of Singapore; Galilee International Management Institute (GIMI) in Israel and; International Labour Organisation (ILO) amongst several others.
In the year under review, the ITF concluded and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Eleven (11) organisations namely: Skills for Prosperity – Nigeria (funded by the foreign Commonwealth and Development Office); At-Risk Children Programme (Supported by the Special Adviser to the President on Social Investment); Kaduna State Ministry of Business, Innovation and Technology (KDMBIT); National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN); International Vocational, Technical and Entrepreneurship Centre (IVTEC), Kwara; LADI Academy; Sight Savers, UK; Victim Support Fund; Lagos Chambers of Commerce and Industry (LCCI); Institute for Tourism Professionals (ITP); Hypertech Limited -1050MW Mambilla Power Project; and Plateau State Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (PLACCIMA).
The ITF will continue to aggressively pursue opportunities for partnerships given the integral role they have played in the actualisation of our Mandate.
STAFF WELFARE AND DEVELOPMENT
One area that has been given priority attention by the incumbent Management is the area of staff welfare and development as an organisation is only as good as its employees.
With this in mind, in the year under review, Management continued to implement welfare packages to motivate the workforce for optimal performance even when some organisations ceased payment of salaries and other staff emoluments on account of the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic. Similarly, last year, the Fund conducted the 2021 promotion examinations with 487 senior staff and 127 junior staff promoted and their arrears have been duly paid. Long service awards were also presented to 74 members of the workforce who had served the Fund meritoriously for 30, 25, and 15 years just as 2,336 were sponsored on various long and short-term development programmes within Nigeria. As a Learning and Development Organisation that seeks to maintain global best practices in every aspect of our operations, 58 officers of the Fund were granted approval to attend specialised International Workshops/Training.
To meet the needs of staff in the area of housing and transport, a total of Seventy-Eight Million, Five Hundred Thousand (78,500,000) was disbursed to Twenty Five (25) officers as Housing loans while One Hundred And Fifteen Million One Hundred Thousand Naira (115, 100,000) was granted to One Hundred and Four (104) Staff as Motor Vehicle loans.
Sometime last year you talked about the Fund disbursing certain amounts for payment for students’ industrial work experience. What is the status of SIWES now?
As our brainchild and given its integral role in the training of Students of Engineering, Technology and other allied disciplines in our tertiary Institutions, the ITF accords priority attention to the management of the Scheme.
In the year under review, the Fund paid a total sum of One Billion, One Hundred and Ninety-Five Million, Nine Hundred and Ninety Thousand (N1,195,990,000.00) as SIWES students and supervisory allowances. A breakdown of this figure shows that the sum of Nine Hundred and Sixty One Million, Eight Hundred and Sixty Thousand Naira (N961,860,000.00) was paid to 64,124 University students; One Hundred and Sixty Two Million, Nine Hundred and Twenty Thousand Naira (N162,920,000.00) was paid to 16,292 Polytechnic students, while the sum of Seventy One Million, Two Hundred and Ten Thousand (N71,210,000) was paid to 7,121 students of Colleges of Education.
I want to assure you of our continuous commitment to prompt payment of students’ and supervisors’ allowances as soon as money is received by the Fund from the Federal Government.
In line with our enabling Act, the Fund reimburses contributing employers up to fifty per cent of the statutory annual training contribution by them if the Fund’s Governing Council is satisfied that the training programmes of the employers among other things are in accordance with the Fund’s Reimbursement Scheme. Since the assumption of office by the incumbent Management of the ITF, we have zealously worked towards fulfilling this aspect of our mandate.
In line with this, in the year under review, a total of Four Billion, Six Hundred and Thirteen Million, Five Hundred and Ninety-Nine Thousand, Five Hundred and Eight Naira, Seventy-Two Kobo (N4,613,599,508.72) was paid to 448 companies as reimbursement.
In addition, the Fund organised several reimbursement workshops to apprise employers of labour on the processes involved in the Reimbursement Scheme. It is our commitment to ensuring that all employers of labour are reimbursed if they meet the requirement for such reimbursement.
All I have said to you is not an exhaustive account of our achievements; it is just indicative of the extent to which the Fund is willing to go in order to equip Nigerians with the necessary tools for employability and entrepreneurship that will lead to the growth and development of our country.
