The Industrial Training Fund (ITF) has graduated one hundred and fifty youths on capacity building under the National Economic Recovery Growth Programme (NERGP) in Plateau State.
Addressing the trainees at the Jos Area Office of the Fund, the Director-General, Dr Afiz Oluwatoyin Ogun, charged the youths to utilize the knowledge they acquired in the course of the training to better their lot and ensure that they cascade the training to others who did not have the opportunity of undergoing such training.
The Director-General, who was represented by the Acting Director of Technical and Vocational Skills of the Fund, Mallam Ibrahim Ganu Usman, also admonished the youths not to sell the start-up parks given to them but to use them to further develop themselves in their chosen endeavours.
He further implored them to register on the Skill-Up Artisan (SUPA) website for further training and for proper certification, adding that the advantages of training under the SUPA scheme are numerous.
“I therefore advise you to register on the SUPA website. When you register on this platform, we will further train you and become more certified. For anyone of you who want to “JAPA,” he would JAPA with qualifications. A skilled person abroad earns more than most professionals, so that is one of the essences of SUPA.
“And if you don’t want to JAPA, with the skills that you have, you can be gainfully employed, and if you don’t want to work under anyone, the skills you might have acquired will enable you to stand on your own.”
In his remarks, the Area Manager of ITF Jos Area Office, Mr Wilfred Mukan, said the NERGP program, which is under the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) component, seeks to provide Nigerians with skills and knowledge under the National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) Framework, thereby making them employable or self-reliant in a highly competitive economy.
He mentioned that the Industrial Training Fund, which is foremost in providing and ensuring that requisite skills and knowledge are provided in line with best global practices, professionally implemented the program in six trade areas, namely: plumbing and pipe fitting, carpentry, tiling, poultry farming, crop production, and beauty care.
According to him, a total of one hundred and forty-six participants went through two months of practical and hands-on training and one month of internship to practicalise what they had learned.
“The trainees were also adequately taken through the Entrepreneurship Development Programme (EDP), which equips them with the stages and what is needed in starting businesses of their own.
“The trainees have been assessed, and appropriate certification will be issued to them to further enhance their participation in the economic space of the country.
All the trainees will be given start-up packs relevant to their field of training towards ensuring a smooth takeoff of their business activities upon leaving here.”.
The Area Manager therefore charged all the graduating trainees to go out and take advantage of the great market in the country and contribute their quota to its economic growth and transformation.