FG to train 370, 000 artisans

Mr Afolabi Imoukhuede, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Job Creation and Youth Employment, said on Thursday that the Federal Government planned to train 370,000 artisans to boost skills development and employment generation.

Imoukhuede disclosed this during the inauguration of the Construction Skills Training and Empowerment Programme (C-STEmp) in Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that C-STEmp, an initiative of J. Hausen Ltd, a construction management consultancy firm, is an accelerated skills development project to prepare eligible beneficiaries for employment as artisans in construction industry.

Imoukhuede, represented by Mr Ife Adebayo, Special Assistant on Production and Innovative, said the Federal Government also planned to employ 500, 000 graduates as teachers, to improve the educational system.

“The Federal Government has plans to train 370,000 artisans this year and to employ 500,000 graduates as teachers, because one of our key problems is on education.

“It has already been decided. We have had a fruitful discussion on it with the Vice President and relevant ministers and we are looking forward to working with the C-STEmp to achieve the goal.

The Presidential Aide said the job creation office developed a framework for job creation which included construction, agro-allied and Information Communication and Technology.

He, however, called for collaboration with the relevant government agencies and Public Private Participation to train more Nigerians in skill development.

Also speaking, Rev. Ugochukwu Chime, C-STEmp Chairman of Trustee, noted that the project would break the paradox of high unemployment and poverty in the midst of severe shortage of skilled manpower, which constrained the housing and construction industry from meeting demand for its products.

“This will be done done through a fast track intensive skills acquisition programme, using a combination of classroom, indoor and outdoor practical and a programmed apprenticeship period.

This, he said, would equip beneficiaries with sufficient skills, certification and reference, to enable them to gain employment in the housing and construction industry.

He said that the struggle for economic inclusiveness by the grassroots over the years in Nigeria was worsened by lack of education and competence in chosen profession.

“As a nation, our socio-economic ascendancy has been severely weighed down by years of neglect and near exclusion of this vital component of development agenda.”

He noted that the programme would empower unemployed and under-employed persons to fend for themselves and rise above their limited circumstances to achieve their potentials.

Chime, who is also the President, Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN), noted that curriculum, manuals and other vocational teaching resources would be used for the training.

He listed the courses to include concreting block laying and plastering, general construction, carpentry, steel fabrication, plumbing installation and maintenance and electrical installation and maintenance.

Others are tiling and decorative stone work, painting and decoration and site orientation and practice for building and engineering graduates.

NAN reports that the project is being supported by UK Aid, under the construction idea fund of the Growth and Employment in States (GEMs) project.

It is also collaborating with the Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria (CORBON) and the Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB).