By Marie-Therese Nanlong

Members of the National Assembly have been called upon to give their support as the Industrial Training Fund, ITF kickstarts the process of amending her Act to make the Fund more responsive in adding value to the national economy.

The Director-General of ITF, Sir Joseph Ari made the call when Members of the House of Representatives Committee on Industry visited the organization’s headquarters in Jos, Plateau State for an oversight function.

Ari who intimated to the lawmakers the workings of the organization, reeled out its achievements since inception about 49 years ago and appealed to them to ensure adequate appropriations to enable the Fund carry out its mandates effectively.

According to him, “I am very delighted to welcome Honourable members of the House of Representatives Committee on Industry, who are here with us today on oversight function, which is an integral function of the National Assembly that is intended for them to be fully apprised of the activities of Agencies and Parastatals under their purview to place them in good stead to effectively perform their onerous task of lawmaking for the greater good of our dear country.

“Despite the enormity of the Mandate, I am pleased to note that the ITF has discharged it with great successes by training over 25 million Nigerians that are manning key sectors of the national economy in its 49-year history.

“I wish to call the attention of Honourable Members to the fact that, the ITF is in the process of amending her Act and we are therefore appealing to Honourable Members to support and hasten the process in order to develop the national economy.

“As the arm of Government vested with the function appropriations, we appeal to you to ensure adequate appropriations for the Scheme because of the establishment of new tertiary institutions, accreditation of new disciplines and the exponential rise of participating students.”

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Committee, Enitan Badru said the visit was to enable them see things for themselves, interact with the management and staff of the organization and see how they could be assisted to deliver on the mandate of empowering Nigerians with relevant skills for improved economy.

He assured his committee members would work with relevant stakeholders to address the challenges discovered.