Seriki Adinoyi in Jos
As the federal government continues to make efforts towards tackling rising unemployment in the country, the strategies proffered by the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) had taken the centre stage.
Stakeholders recently gathered at Abuja to take a critical look at the strategies with a view to implementing them.
Disclosing this in Jos recently, the Head, Public Affairs, ITF, Mrs. Suleyol Fred Chagu, said the federal government convened a stakeholders’ forum that would articulate strategies for job creation.
The meeting took place in Abuja on Monday and was chaired by the Minister of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah.
She added that the report, which focuses on four sectors of the economy namely, agriculture, construction, transport and services sectors deemed to have the greatest potential for job creation, projects that about 15 million direct and indirect jobs will be created if the ITF proposals are fully implemented.
According to Chagu, “Highlights of the report indicates that in the area of agriculture, which is the major pre-occupation of Nigerians and a key focus of the next level agenda of the federal government, a significant number of direct and indirect jobs will be created along the agricultural value chain through the implementation of the following programmes: the Vegetable Value Vantage (TRIPLE V), Livestock Production (LIPRO) and Women Driven Agricultural Mechanisation Programme (WODAMP).
“In the Construction and Services sectors, over hundreds of thousands of direct and indirect jobs will be created for Nigerians using the Mass Housing Development Projects (MAHODEP) and Rural Transportation Empowerment Programme (RUTEP), the Mega City Travel – Rail Based (MECIT-RB) and Mega City Travel–Bus Based (MECIT-BB) initiatives the Infrastructural Maintenance of Government Structures (IMOGS) in the transport sector. And in the services sector using Auto-Diagnostics and Services (ADASE), Environmental Waste Management (EWAM), Renewable Energy Services (RES), Creative Arts and Digital Media Programme (CADMEP) and Service Hubs (SE-HUB).”
She assured that with mix of technocrats and captains of industry that will be in attendance, the Federal Government expects that what emerges from the meeting will lead to tangible and effective solutions to the employment problem in Nigeria.
