NAN-H-105
Skills
By Martha Agas
Jos, Feb. 14, 2017 (NAN) The Industrial Trust Fund (ITF) says it will commence the next phase of National Industrial Skills Development Programme (NISDP) in 18 states, on March 1.
Its Director-General, Joseph Ari, said in a statement in Jos on Tuesday, that the programme was part of efforts to provide employment and check indolence among the for youths.
The statement, signed by Mrs. Suleyol Chagu, Head, Public Affairs Unit of the ITF, said that the the programme would provide requisite employable skills to 500 Nigerians from each of the 18 States.
He listed the states to include Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Benue, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Gombe, Imo and Jigawa.
The rest are Kano, Kebbi, Kogi, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Rives, Taraba and Yobe.
Ari said that beneficiaries would undergo training in 30 trades and crafts, including tailoring and fashion design, paint and beads making, plumbing and pipe fitting, farming, confectionery, welding and fabrication.
Other areas are ICT, electrical installation, carpentry and wood work, cosmetology, GSM repairs as well as the making of Plaster of Paris (POP).
“This training is a tripartite arrangement involving ITF, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria and Bank of Industry.
“Trainees will be taken through hands-on vocational and entrepreneurial skills as well as modalities for business financing,” Ari was quoted as saying.
He appealed to government officials in benefiting states and other stakeholders, to support the initiative through the provision of start-up grants and facilities to empower the trainees to set up their businesses as entrepreneurs and employers of labour.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the programme commenced in 2012, after being conceived as part of the scheme of the Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan.
Since its commencement, the programme, which is supervised by the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment, has trained 84,100 Nigerians in diverse trades and crafts.
In 2016 alone, the NISDP trained 10,100 Nigerians in diverse skills. Among the trainees were 1,100 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Borno. (NAN)
MAA/HAS/ETS
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Edited By Hajia Sani and Ephraims Sheyin