About 74,000 youths from all states of the federation has been trained by Industrial Training Fund (ITF) under its National Industrial Skills Development Programme (NISDP) to enable them be able to be self employed.

NISDP is a capacity building component of National Enterprises Development Programme conceived by the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment in collaboration with ITF, the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agencies (SMEDAN) and the Bank of Industry (BOI) aimed at actualising the diversification agenda of the Federal Government by empowering the youths to be gainfully employed through the training in technical and vocational trades.

Speaking at the graduation ceremony of the 2016 first batch of the trainees at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, the Director General of ITF, Mr. Joseph Ari, said the youths were trained for a minimum of three months in their special areas, adding that the training had been taking place since the commencement of the programme in 2012.

Ari, who spoke through the ITF Area Manager for Awka, Mrs. Chinwe Opara, noted that 18 states and the FCT participated in the 2016 programme.

She said that while each state trained 500 youths during the latest exercise, Borno State trained 1100 due to the large number of Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs in the area.

Opara further explained that the programme was aimed at providing skills to support the National Industrial Revolution Plan, developing highly skilled entrepreneurial workforce for Small and Medium Enterprises, SMEs, reducing youth restiveness as well contributing immensely to wealth creation and poverty reduction.

In her words, “The training is centered on four trade areas of pastry, handset repairs, fishery and cosmetology, adding that the beneficiaries had been adequately prepared to be self reliant.

“It is expected that majority of the graduates of the programme will start their own businesses, while some will be employed in various sectors of the economy, thus readily becoming potential members of various business members organisations,” Opara said.

On his part, an official of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) who attended the graduation ceremony, assured that the Commission would assist the graduates to register their products with CAC at minimal cost and urged ITF to submit the names of those already seeking registration of their products to the CAC.

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