Gyang Bere, Jos
The Director-General of Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Sir Joseph N Ari, said the directive for harmonisation of skills programmes by Federal Government in all Government Agencies in the country would save cost and make the programme more effective.
Ari stated this in Jos and described the decision as a welcome development, indicating that it would lead to greater synergy and cooperation between and amongst Government Agencies involved in Skills Acquisition for job and wealth creation.
He said such collaboration would lead to greater multiplier effect, reduce wastages as well as duplication of efforts.
Ari said it was for these reasons that the ITF had over the years advocated for Agencies of Government to work together rather than in silos.
‘For a number of years now, we have been calling on HRD practitioners, particularly Agencies of Government involved in skills acquisition to come together so that we can work as one to deliver skills to Nigerians, rather than dissipate our energies in disparate and ill-organised efforts that have not yielded any remarkable result.’
He added that ‘today, the National Directorate for Employment (NDE), Bank of Industry (BOI), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency Nigeria (SMEDAN) and a number of other Agencies have several programmes in one form or the other. I believe with synergy, we will have greater impact and more successfully drive the job creation agenda of the Federal Government.’
The DG said ITF would leverage on its experience, expertise, and expansive network to attain the directive of Government.
He explained that relevant Departments within the Fund have been directed to put in place necessary machinery for the actualisation of the Federal Government directive.
‘As a first step, we will conduct an in-depth survey of all the programmes that are being implemented by other Agencies with particular attention to the impact of individual programmes in order for us to devise a strategy as to how to work together,’ he said.
It would be recalled that over the weekend, the Federal Government directed the Industrial Training Fund to harmonise all skills development initiatives by Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) across the country as enshrined in the ITF Act, in order to achieve greater success in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).