The Industrial Training Fund (ITF) has announced that it is targeting a revenue flow of about N150 billion annually in order to meet some of its major short and medium term goals in human capacity development.
This, the Fund said, is in order to bridge the huge gap in the availability of skilled technical manpower in the industrial and the service sectors of the economy.
Speaking at a session in Lagos to sensitise the operators and stakeholders of the Nigerian ports and land borders, the director-general and chief executive officer of the Fund, Longmas Wapmuk, stressed that the co-operation of this group and other employers of labour in the public and private sectors is essential for the success of ITF in meeting its set mandate.
Wapmuk explained that the mandate and targets of the ITF are ambitious and therefore require the co-operation of every stakeholder in order to achieve them.
He observed that the law mandates every employer to have five or more employees in his establishment or have less than five employees, but with a turnover of N50 million and above per annum shall in respect of each calendar year and or the prescribed date, contribute to the fund, one percent of his total annual payroll.
He also stressed that compliance with this law is necessary to help the country achieve the lofty economic goal of becoming a major industrial country in the world.
“The wholesome and proper implementation or operation of the ITF act 2011 as amended, holds immense benefit for overall socio-economic wellbeing and development of the nation, because poverty eradication is a vital tool in the war against insecurity, unemployment and hunger,” he said.
He further observed that with proper funding , ITF would expand Skill Training Centres across the country, ensuring that there are 37 of them across the country to cover 3,725 Trade Areas which will train 25 students; each amounting to a total of 23,125 highly skilled technicians turned out yearly.
Wapmuk added that the six Centres for Advanced Skills Training for Employment (CASTE) across the six geopolitical zones would turn out 6,750 highly qualified graduates annually.
NONSO NDUMANYA
