The Industrial Training Fund (ITF) has reiterated its commitment to continue to make giant strides in the field of Human Resources Development geared towards the economic growth of the nation.

The ITF also commended its clients and stakeholders, especially, the Rivers State Government, and the organized private sector (OPS) for facilitating the achievement of its set goals and targets, which were aimed at building a functional and effective workforce for the state and the country at large.

The Area Manager of ITF Port Harcourt Area Office, Ifeyinwa Osagie, who made this commendation on Wednesday, December 16, 2021, at a One-Day Interactive Forum with clients and stakeholders in Port Harcourt, said the COVID-19 pandemic brought new hurdles and created loads of opportunities to businesses across the globe.

Osagie said the training organization has not relented in carrying out her mandate which is to provide, promote and encourage the acquisition of skills and competencies in industry and commerce with a view to generating a pool of indigenous manpower sufficient to meet the needs of the Nigerian economy.

The Area Manager said the training organization provides training for skills in management, technical and entrepreneurial development in the public and private sectors with the aims of poverty reduction, employment generation and wealth creation.

According to her, “poverty reduction, employment generation and wealth creation could only produce the expected outcome if it is driven by adequate skilled power”.

She disclosed that the ITF has always partnered other companies and relevant bodies to build the capacity of manpower in Nigeria under the Technical Skills Development Project (TSDP), adding that it also provides technical and vocational skills training for Nigerian youths under the National Industrial Skills Development Programme (NISDP) and other skills acquisition programmes of the organization.

“The objective of the Interactive Forum with the theme: ‘Leveraging on Workforce Diversity for Innovative, Creative And High Business Performance in a Challenging Economy’ was to promote entrepreneurship and employability, job and wealth creation to reduce youth restiveness and also, to enable diversification of the Nigeria economy in line with Federal government policy directives.”  

She said ITF cannot carry out her mandate, vision and mission alone in view of the huge resources involved but must collaborate with employers of labour if the one per cent of their contributing and registration funds are paid.

She appealed to corporate bodies that are by law, mandated to contribute to the Training Fund to continue to perform their statutory obligations to the organization for improved economic growth.

Osagie said “with ITF variety of richly packaged and high impact service offerings, it is strategically poised to provide the requisite blocks for capacity building of employees across all sectors of the Nigerian economy”.

Highlights of the programme was the presentation of awards to corporate bodies and unveiling of the 2022 Learning and Development Calendar.