Sunday Aborisade in Abuja
The Director General of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Dr. Afiz Oluwatoyin, said yesterday that Nigerian artisans, despite their creativity and talents, were about the most poorly rewarded globally.
Oluwatoyin stated this in his remarks at the end of a two-day stakeholders’ meeting with designated Nigerian trade associations at the ITF Corporate headquarters, Abuja.
He, however, lamented that many Nigerian artisans were being poorly rewarded because their skills were not backed up by up-to-date modern technology.
The agency unveiled the Skill-Up Artisan (SUPA) programme, designed to upgrade the skills of about 20 million Nigerian artisans to international standards as well as eliminate quackery from the system in four years.
Oluwatoyin explained that SUPA was part of the federal government’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
He said its objective was to elevate Nigerian artisans to international standards and eradicate unprofessionalism and quackery in all facets of the country’s industrial sector.
He stressed the need to transform the perception of Nigerian artisans and reposition them as highly skilled professionals deserving of respect and competitive remuneration like their counterparts in other economies of the world.
Oluwatoyin added that the strategic plan involves the categorisation and training of artisans in both ITF and private training centres.
He noted that the ambitious goal was to upskill five million artisans annually, culminating in a total of 20 million skilled artisans in four years.
The ITF helmsman, added that the programme’s global impact, already had partnerships in advanced stages with countries like Germany and the United Arab Emirates.
He assured Nigerians that the current administration in the country, was not going to tolerate a situation where Nigerian artisans would be treated as inferior entities with poor remunerations.
He said the ITF would start to address the problem through deliberate SUPA programmes.
Oluwatoyin said that the President Bola Tinubu-led administration was bent on reversing the ugly trends whereby well skilled and equipped artisans from abroad take up local jobs meant for artisans in the country.
He said: “In the past, Nigerian artisans had been operating like illiterates, like low level people. When you go outside, you find out that artisans are up there. In some countries, they earn more than the professors.
“You can’t pay, if you are not strong enough financially, you may not be able to pay them. They are well respected. When I came down here, I saw people from other countries taking up jobs.
“Of course, they have the right to; we have the International Labour Organisation and Labour Law which permit them. But I found out that Nigerians were no longer giving fellow Nigerians job,” he said.
Speaking on behalf of the amalgamated Union of Motor Mechanics and Technicians of Nigeria (AUOMMATON), Mr. Oseni Suleiman, expressed gratitude to ITF over the initiative, noting that they would utilise the knowledge imparted on them for the gain of the country.
Suleiman however, expressed concern about the free registration, questioning the monitoring process when there would be a massive influx of artisans.
