The Industrial Training Fund (ITF) has vowed to end Nigeria’s reliance on foreign artisans as part of effort to boost domestic manpower in Nigeria.

To this end, the ITF has commenced an eight-week training programme for 100 artisans and trainers as part of efforts to raise the standard of Nigerian technical manpower to international levels.

The training, which involves trainers from the United Kingdom, is designed to equip participants with technical, teaching and assessment skills that will enable them to train other artisans and assess workers across Nigerian industries.

Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of the ITF, Dr Afiz Oluwatoyin Ogun, who made this known in Abuja, said the programme was in line with President Bola Tinubu’s directive to develop Nigeria’s artisans and technicians to meet international standards.

Ogun, who spoke at the commencement of the programme, said the initiative was part of the fund’s mandate to address unemployment by equipping Nigerians with practical skills capable of making them competitive globally.

He said the programme was not designed merely to issue certificates of participation but to provide participants with internationally recognised qualifications.

According to him, the trainees will obtain three qualifications at the end of the eight-week programme, including Trade Level 3 certification, teaching and training certification, and assessor certification.

He said, “We are training the trainers here. You are trainers, and we are training you to go out there and train others. When we selected you, we selected some from ITF because we have trainers in these trade areas, and we also selected from the master artisans on the streets of Nigeria. Some of you did not know that your name would come out. You just saw your name.”

Ogun said the participants would undergo examinations at the end of the training, stressing that

certification without assessment would undermine the quality of technical training.