FG to train 29,875 graduates annually

The Federal Government has said it will address unemployment through the implementation of the National Industrial Skills Development Programme The initiative is expected to produce 29,875 readily employable graduates annually, thus reducing unemployment and enhancing national security. A statement on Sunday quoted the Minister of Trade and Investments, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, as saying that the skill acquisition programme was designed to attract resource empowerment for the trainees upon graduation. He said this during the inauguration of the Industrial Training Funds’ headquarters annex in Jos. Aganga said his ministry, in collaboration with the ITF, had put structures in place to ensure that trainees from the NISDP were empowered to be either gainfully employed or able to set up their own businesses. He said, “Therefore, the strategy of the Ministry of Trade and Investment, working together with the ITF, is to first of all identify the critical sectors of the economy where we have comparative and competitive advantage. “The second thing is to link those sectors or industries that we have identified to innovation, research and development. Then, the third thing is to link those sectors to industrial skills development. That is where the NISDP comes in.” “That is the path that we have started already. If we allow this to go on for the next three years, we will make significant impact in terms of turning our quantity advantage into productive advantage – where most Nigerians will be gainfully employed and also have the opportunity to move up the value chain with respect to the skills they have acquired,” he added. The statement also quoted the Director-General, ITF, Prof. Longmas Wapmuk, as saying the agency would establish 37 industrial skills training centres across the country. This is in addition to sector-specific training centres for manufacturing, agro-allied, construction and other critical sectors of the economy. From: punchng.com