The Federal Government has intensified efforts to reposition Nigeria’s informal skills sector, with more than 7,000 artisans undergoing international certification under the Skill-Up Artisans (SUPA) programme at a cost of over N700 million.
The Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Dr. Afiz Oluwatoyin Ogun, disclosed this while monitoring the ongoing international certification examinations at the ITF Centre of Excellence in Jos, Plateau State.
Ogun said the exercise, which is being conducted across 27 states and 28 examination centres, represented a significant expansion of the international certification component of SUPA following an earlier pilot programme in Abuja that involved more than 200 artisans.
According to him, the initiative is designed to give Nigerian artisans the professional recognition required to compete more effectively for employment, contracts and business opportunities in Nigeria and other countries.
He said the absence of internationally recognised qualifications had for years placed many Nigerian artisans at a disadvantage, despite their practical experience and technical abilities.
Ogun said the Federal Government was determined to close that gap by providing artisans with certifications that could validate their skills beyond Nigeria’s borders.
“We promised Nigerians that Nigerian artisans will have an opportunity to have a bouquet of certification,” he said.
The ITF boss explained that beneficiaries would not lose their existing Nigerian qualifications under the programme. Rather, the international certification would complement the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF), creating a combination of local and internationally recognised credentials.
He said the dual certification would strengthen the credibility of Nigerian artisans and improve their mobility, particularly for those seeking employment or contracts in countries where formal skills certification is a major requirement.
Competing with foreign artisans
Ogun said the programme was also a response to the increasing participation of foreign artisans in Nigeria’s labour market.
He noted that artisans from some countries with smaller populations had been able to secure opportunities in Nigeria because their technical skills were backed by recognised qualifications and professional certification.
He stressed, however, that the government’s response was not to prevent foreign artisans from operating in the country but to ensure that Nigerians possessed the skills and credentials necessary to compete.
Rather than restricting competition, he said, Nigeria must strengthen its own workforce and make its artisans competitive in both the domestic and international markets.
The ITF chief executive further disclosed that beneficiaries of the current certification exercise were not selected merely because they applied for government support. They were subjected to screening to establish that they were genuine practising artisans.
Some applicants, he said, were excluded after failing to demonstrate that they were actively engaged in their claimed trades.
“We are scaling up Nigerian artisans to international standard. We are not just bringing in artisans. We are trying to separate the quacks from those who are properly trained and make them better,” Ogun said.
The screening, he explained, was necessary to ensure that government resources were directed towards people who were already practising their trades and had the potential to benefit from additional training and certification.
Beyond technical skills
The SUPA programme, according to Ogun, goes beyond teaching artisans how to perform their technical duties.
Participants are also being exposed to occupational ethics, industrial safety, project management and patriotism, among other areas considered essential to professional development.
He said an artisan might possess strong technical ability but still damage the reputation of Nigerian professionals if he lacked knowledge of workplace safety, ethical conduct or project management.
The broader training package, he said, was therefore intended to produce artisans who could deliver quality work while meeting professional and international standards.
Ogun described the international certification exercise as part of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s human capital development agenda, saying the government was committed to expanding opportunities for Nigerians to acquire practical and marketable skills.
He assured artisans who were not included in the current batch that subsequent phases would be organised to accommodate more beneficiaries.
Focus shifts to young Nigerians
Beyond the certification of practising artisans, Ogun disclosed that the ITF was also strengthening its efforts to introduce young Nigerians to practical skills at an early stage.
He said the skills development initiative had been extended to students in schools, giving them an opportunity to acquire practical knowledge in addition to their conventional academic education.
Under the programme, participating students are expected to receive about 13 hours of practical training every week in their chosen trades. The sessions, he said, would include periods after regular school hours and Saturdays.
Ogun said Junior Secondary School One students would spend two years acquiring practical skills before progressing to international certification examinations, while students at higher levels would build on their existing qualifications.
The approach, he explained, was intended to develop a pipeline of skilled young Nigerians who could enter the labour market with practical competencies instead of depending solely on academic qualifications.
Free training for beneficiaries
The ITF DG emphasised that the training and certification opportunities were being provided free of charge to beneficiaries, acknowledging that preparing artisans for international certification comes at considerable cost.
He appealed to Nigerians to be patient with the programme, explaining that the government could not accommodate every applicant in a single batch.
He urged practising artisans who were not captured in the current phase to remain hopeful and await subsequent rounds of the programme.
According to him, the long-term objective is to build a stronger and more professional Nigerian skills sector in which artisans are recognised not only for their practical abilities but also for the quality and credibility of their qualifications.
The initiative, he said, is ultimately expected to produce a new generation of Nigerian artisans capable of competing for opportunities at home and abroad, while helping to improve the reputation of Nigerian technical workers in the global labour market.