Industrial Training Fund kicks off assessment of over 100,000 skilled craftsmen

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The Industrial Training Fund (ITF) on Tuesday kicked off its annual screening of 100,000 Skill-Up Artisans Programme (SUPA), capturing over 3,000 participants in Lagos.

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The exercise is aimed at equipping artisans with free technical training, internationally recognised certification, and job placement support across trades like plumbing and tailoring, among others.

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Speaking during the training, Mr Hassan Sauman, Technical Vocational Skills Training Development Department, ITF, said that the programme was part of the strategies of actualising the transformation agenda of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

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Sauman said that the core objective of the SUPA programme was to add value by upskilling artisans in their various trades.

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He said that ITF needed to upgrade the artisans up to international standards.

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According to him, qualifying participants will receive structured vocational training, industry-standard licensing, toolkits, among others.

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“The programme spans dozens of sectors, including garment making, tiling, plumbing, welding, automobile, crop production, domestic electrical installations, and scaffolding.

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“We actually rolled out the portal for them to register. They have registered, and we are here to see them, interview them, and verify whether they are actual artisans we are going to deal with.

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“SUPA programme is completely free. If anybody says that you should pay any money, I think you should let us know, so that we will know how to deal with the person squarely.

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“As I earlier said, the SUPA artisans programme has three main objectives. First is to upskill the artisans to global standards, that is, training. We need to train them to compete globally.

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“Secondly, the artisan will be exposed to international certification, which means that they can go out to practise anywhere in the world,” he said.

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Sauman said that the Industrial Training Fund also wished to collaborate with other institutions, so that they could get placements when they were available.

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He said that one of the major objectives of the programme was for the Federal Government to have a diary of artisans, which could be used to track their progress.

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Sauman added that ITF could attach the beneficiaries to both local and international markets at the end of the training.

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He said that the training was expected to last for three months.

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According to him, ITF collaborates with different certification institutions, both locally and internationally.

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“Our graduates of 2025 actually sat for the Turkish exam, which the Turkish people came here to administer, and they were certified, which means they are qualified to practice in any part of the world.

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`’It is a world-recognised certification that anywhere they go, they will be recognised as practising this particular trade,” he said.

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Mr Tijani Kabiru, a trainee and an artisan in the hospitality industry, said that once artisans were more skilled, it would enhance them and improve the economic standard of the country.

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“There are many artisans in Nigeria, but they don’t have the financial support to meet international standards; that is why the Federal Government initiated this programme.

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“With this, the youth will have many ways to engage and improve themselves.

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Another trainee, Mrs Olabisi Adetoro, said that she had been practicing tailoring for over 14 years and was ready to upgrade her skills.

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“This training will give me more advantage in finishing and special packaging skills for better competitiveness,” Adetoro said.

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