ITF @ 36: WAPMUK EXTOLS PAST ITF CHIEF EXECUTIVES

The Director General of the Industrial Training Fund, Prof. Longmas Sambo Wapmuk has extolled the achievements of the past Directors General of the Institution noting that sustaining their successes has proved a challenge.

He said equalling such achievements has been made doubly difficult as his appointment in August, 2006 came in the wake of the Federal Government Civil Service Reforms, he was expected to implement on assumption of office.

The Director General who was speaking during the 36^th anniversary of the ITF, said despite this, the ITF has recorded great strides in the areas of skills training, manpower development, staff welfare and rebranding of the Fund. He stated that the Fund had submitted a proposal to the Federal Government for the establishment of 15 Skills Centres to be shared among the 6 geopolitical zones of the country.

He added that unlike existing skills centres that cater for generalist skills training, the ones that are contemplated will be specialist in nature as they will be expected to provide skills training in trades where they are most required. The expansion, he stressed, was in response of the 7 point agenda of the Federal Government, Vision 20-20-20, and the desire to create an enabling environment for the attainment of the MDGs.

Wapmuk added that against the realisation of the centrality of workforce to the achievement of the organisational goals, he promoted 600 staff, implemented the 15 percent pay rise and ensured the transition from the HAPSS to CONTISS. He said the successful implementation of some of these problems might be hamstrung by paucity of funds and appealed for the intervention of the federal government.

Earlier former Director General of the Industrial Training Fund, Alhaji Mohammed Lawal Tudun Wada praised successive DGs for carrying the mandate of the Fund to higher levels.

Tudunwada, who was DG of the Fund when it was upgraded from a grade ‘B’ to grade ‘A’ parastatal called on the staff to support management so that the Fund would continue to be a leader in the training sub-sector in Nigeria.