Pulse.ng : ITF trains 910 Katsina youths in vocational, entrepreneurial skills

By Abbas Bamalli

The Industrial Training Fund (ITF), says it has trained 910 youths in vocational and entrepreneurial skills in Katsina State in the past one year.

The ITF Area Manager in the state, Alhaji Dauda Lawal, stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Monday in Katsina.

He said the training exercise exposed the beneficiaries to different skills and trades to enable them to set up their businesses and become self-reliant.

Lawal said that 650 out of the 910 youths received training under the Federal government youth empowerment project being implemented by the Fund.

He said the beneficiaries comprised unemployed graduates and other category of unemployed youths, adding that the exercise focused on plumbing, building, carpentry, welding and electrical services.

“About 120 youths received training through the National Industrial Skills Development Programme (NISDP) on solar panel installation and maintenance, tailoring and fashion design, beauty care, hair dressing, among others.

“Some 80 others trained through the Agri-Entrepreneurial Skills Empowerment Programme (AGSAP), on green-house, poultry and fish farming,” he said.

He said that some 60 youths also received training on tailoring and Information Communication Technology (ICT) under the Nigerian Employers Consultative Association (ITF/NECA).

According to Lawal, the Fund is also providing training to state and federal workers based on the interest of their respective organisations, adding the exercise is designed to upgrade their workforce.

“We are not only into training unemployed youths, we also engaged in training workers through their organisations in any area of their professions, but with a little token to the ITF.

“Within the year, ITF has supervised thousands of industrial attachment students at their respective places of assignment across the state.

“We are not a profit making organisation, the idea of ITF is to build the capacity of the workers and to see that they operate up to the standards,” he said.

He, therefore, urged the Katsina government to collaborate with the Fund to enhance training of government workers and the youths in the state.

NAN