ABUJA – Sir Joseph Ari, Director General/ Chief Executive Officer of Industrial Training Fund (ITF), has said the Federal Government alone cannot completely solve the problems of poverty and unemployment plaguing the country.
Ari stated this on Thursday in Abuja at the graduation ceremony and distribution of start-up packs to beneficiaries of the 2020 National Industrial Skills Development Programme (NISDP), which was conducted by the ITF.
He noted that in spite of Federal Government’s interventions aimed at stemming the tide of unemployment and poverty, more efforts and synergy were required to lift Nigerians out of poverty and unemployment.
He said, “Going by the report of the survey by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) of fourth quarter of 2020, to the effect that unemployment was still hovering at over 33 per cent while youth unemployment was as high as 44 per cent, it is obvious that more needs to be done.
“What is again very clear is that the efforts of the Federal Government alone cannot completely solve the problems of poverty and unemployment and the attendant fallouts.
“Indeed, the problems that stare us in the face today require Nigerians to pull together and synergise as institutions of Government, Corporate bodies and Non-Governmental Organisations to fully resolve them.”
He pointed out that the only sustainable solution to reducing unemployment and poverty was skills acquisition.
“Speaking as the Chief Executive of an agency responsible for skills acquisition, we had realised quite early that the only sustainable solution to reducing unemployment and poverty was skills acquisition.
“We reckoned that until we tow this path, even our population that should ordinarily be an asset will become a liability and we, as a nation, will continue to fight a losing battle against the blights of poverty and unemployment and their attendant consequences due to perilous intersection and nexus between poverty and crime rate.”
Commenting on the efforts of ITF to address unemployment in the country, he explained that under the NISDP, thousands of Nigerian youths were trained nationwide in three trades namely tailoring, cosmetology and Information and Communication Technology.
He said thousands of other youths were equally trained in other skills acquisition programmes including the Special Skills Development Programme (SSDP), the Federal Government Skills Empowerment Programme (FEGOSEP), the Info-Tech Skills Empowerment Programme (ISEP) and, the Agri-Preneurship Training Programme (ATP),amongst others.
Also speaking, Ambassador Mariam Katagum, Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, said some of the greatest challenges facing the country today are poverty and unemployment, being triggers of various anti-social behaviour.
Katagum said in recognition of the dangers unemployment and poverty pose, the Federal Government has been implementing a number of initiatives and policies intended to reverse this trend and also wean this country from dependence on oil, through economic diversification.
She said the Federal Government recently entered into partnership with Microsoft Corporation, an American multinational technology company, to accelerate the nation’s efforts in deepening the digital economy anchored on three pillars – increased connectivity, upskilling and job creation and digital transformation.
The minister said youth empowerment through skills acquisition is of paramount importance to both the nation and the empowered.
Her words: “With increased youth empowerment, the future prosperity of a nation is secured, because these are the people that will, in the future, make policies and occupy positions of authority in the country.
“The enormous task of youth empowerment should therefore not be left to the ITF and other Government Agencies alone.
“I, therefore, call on all critical stakeholders and other agencies with similar mandates, to synergise in tackling the ominous twin challenges of unemployment and poverty, that have bedevilled our dear country and continent for too long.”
Source: Independent NG
