By Barnabas Esiet
The Industrial Training Fund, ITF, is currently working in collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Fund, UNIDO, to facilitate periodic evaluation and validation of skills requirements at the national and state levels through the establishment of Sector Skills Councils, SSCs, in the country.

The Acting Director General of ITF, Dickson Onuoha, disclosed this in Lagos on Wednesday at a forum organised by the Commerce and Industry Correspondents Association of Nigeria, CICAN. He explained that the SSCs, to be managed by employer-led organisations, would on take-off in Nigeria, facilitate reduction of skills gap shortages, improve productivity and boost skills of workforces at different sectors as well as  help develop apprenticeship standards in the country.

” A lot of vacancies exist in the industry but we don’t have people with the requisite skills to pick up those jobs and what that shows clearly is that there is a serious mismatch as the skills required in the industry is not exactly in line with the skills produced in the higher institutions, that is why ITF felt it was necessary to establish the SACs so that  organized private sector can have an interface with the higher institutions to allign their curriculum and programmes to meet those skills gap and we believe that this is  one of the best ways to solve the unemployment problem in the country.”

The ITF acting boss noted that many countries including the United Kingdom, Singapore and South Africa have recorded improved skills and occupational standards in their respective industries owing to the operation of the SSCs. He also disclosed that about 72thousand Nigerian youths across states have been train by ITF on acquisition of various skills while nine thousand others are currently undergoing similar trainings.

On the concerns about non- reimbursement of training contributions by employers, Onuoha said all organisations with accrued claims that have met the specified requirements have been paid adding that the Fund’s adherence and commitment to its enabling Act has help boost confidence and cordial relationship with the private sector institutions.