ITF Building, Abuja
By YUSUF IDEGU, Jos –
A Non-governmental Organization known as Budget Tracking, Monitoring and Accountability, has exonerated the Director General and Chief Executive of the industrial Training Funds, ITF, Joe Ari and his management of any form of illicit financial transaction.
The NGO who gave a clean bill of health to Sir Joseph Ari and his team also said some faceless forces are out to tarnish the hard-earned reputation of transparency established by Sir Ari led management.
The NGO in a statement signed by Mohammed Abdulrahman said, “As a registered NGO on budget monitoring and accountability, which activities and mandate to ensure the rights of citizens to budget tracking and constituency projects across the 15 countries in the West Africa, our attentions has been drawn to the allegations of an alleged “ illicit transactions” against the Director General of the Industrial Training Fund, ITF by a self-styled Concerned Citizens for Change, Accountability and Probity, and the Joint Civil Society Task Force on anti-corruption.
“The protesters demanded the sack of the ITF’s director, saying this would make good the promises of the government to rid the country of corruption
The NGO noted that, “for the purpose of clarity, we do not engage in defence of individual, groups or institutions, but rather monitoring and tracking of budgetary allocations and utilizations of same.”
“We however take exception to a sponsored campaign of calumny against a transparent institution like ITF.
“Our reactions is coming on the heel of the story credited to an online publications, alleging “illicit transactions in ITF.
“For the purpose of clarity, the Budget tracking and monitoring groups for the past one week has been part of the 2021/2022, Budget Defence in the National Assembly, both at the Senate and the House of Representatives, including the review of the performance of the budgetary allocations to the Industrial Training Fund, ITF.
The report by the online publication, SaharaReporters, apart from the fact that it is an indictment and a challenge to our organization and the over 200 Journalists who cover both the Senate and the House of Representatives, as it will appears, only Sahara reporters was at the event, is full of fallacy of inconsistency, false equivalence and logic flaw reasoning.
It is suggestive of the fact that every other persons including the lawmakers in the National Assembly, have abdicated their constitutional responsibility to the civil societies and SaharaReporters, as the House Committee rather than stepping down the review would rather applaud the the DG, Joe Ari, and his management in the handling of the ITF.
It noted that is regrettable that a group, a Civil Society they claimed they are throughout their protest and petition, could not substantiate their allegations with facts and figures, but rather present themselves as sponsored group to make a dog breakfast of the achievements of the ITF DG, Sir Joe Ari as the Lawmakers have attested to.
For instance the Eagle eyes Lawmakers throughout the review could not detect any financial infractions in ITF.
Suffice to mention our observations at what transpired at the event
As a way of tackling the rising wave of unemployment among youth in Nigeria, the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) is setting up skills acquisition centres for them across the states of the federation.
This is as members of the Senate Committee on Industry, made subtle lobby for such centres to be sited in their respective senatorial zones .
Setting up of the centres by ITF, came to the fore during budget defence session the agency had with the Senate Committee on Industry on Tuesday.
In his presentation before the committee, the Director General of ITF, Joseph Ari, said the centres are being created to tackle the problem of unemployment in the country particularly among the youths.
From the centres, thousands of youths he added, will be equipped with required innovative skills that will take them off the streets and make them self employed.
“Setting up of the Industrial Skill Training Centres, is central to the core mandate of ITF, the very reason the agency is very resolute and passionate in putting them in place across the states of the federation,” he said.
Apparently impressed with the move of ITF, some members of the committee like Senators Jibrin Isa (APC Kogi East ), Christopher Ekpeyong (PDP Akwa Ibom North West), Danjumah La’ah ( PDP Kaduna Central) and Muhammad Adamu Bulkachuwa (APC Bauchi North), asked him about locations of the centres in their states.
Senator Jibrin Isa in particular, complained to the DG that records before him show Kogi West and Central as locations of such centres and not Kogi East .
But the ITF DG in his response said locations of the centres across the states are devoid of political affiliation of people in the states or Senatorial zones.
“In establishing the centres, we consult with respective State Governors for the required buy in at that level but with observation made here today , I promise to also carry along distinguished Senators,” he said.
Earlier in his presentation on 2021 budget implementation by the agency and 2022 budgetary proposals, the ITF boss said while a total budgetary vote of N44.5billion was earmarked for the agency in 2021, the projected estimate for 2022 is N42.5billion which shows difference of N2.1billion.
He said the N2.291billion capital vote for the year has not been expended due to lack of cash backing for projects lined up for execution.
But the Director of Procurement in his explanation, said all the procurement processes delaying execution of capital component of the agency’s 2021 budget have been done, which will make slated contracts to be executed before the end of the year.
In his closing remarks at the session, the Chairman of the committee, Senator Adetokunbo Abiru, said, “ITF is very germane to the economy of the Nation and needs to redouble its effort in the establishment of skills acquisition and vocational centres across the country.
“Since we have moved from the era of Industrial revolution, such centres should be driven more by innovation,” he said. Protesters At National Assembly Demand Probe, Sacking of Director-General of Industrial Training Fund.
Industrial Training Fund (ITF) tackles unemployment with industrial skills training centers as SeSenator’sobby for locations
It had been reported that Ari was also accused of awarding fraudulent contracts to family members without recourse to procedure and due process as well as illegally promoting female workers without regard for public service rules.
Within a few years in office, Sir Joseph Ntung Ari has been able to empower a huge number of citizens of the country in diverse disciplines.
when the current management came on board, it met an organization on the cusp of crisis – that manifested inconsistent bad press and restiveness amongst the workforce, but he strived to resolve the crises both internal and external and has been able to return the organization to the path of growth
Our findings have shown that when the current management assumed office, Ari, announced a template that the management will operate- Strategies for Mandate Actualization within the x-year plan that was conceived comprised of short term, medium, and long term goals.
According to him, it commenced in late 2016 to terminate in 2022, saying It was designed to aggressively address service challenges, infrastructure deficits, revenue, and a gamut of other strictures impinging the actualization of the Fund’s mandate.
‘We. trained over 50,000 youths and other vulnerable groups were equipped with skills for employability and entrepreneurship through programs including the National Industrial Skills Development Programme, (NISDP), the Women Skills Empowerment Programme (WWEP, Training on Wheels, and the Technical Skills Development Project (TSDP), among several other initiatives.
In all, about 150,000 Nigerians have benefited from ITF training programs since the assumption of the current management”
He emphasized that the ITF implemented numerous technical skills acquisition programs as well as introduced new initiatives including the National Industrial Skills Development Programme (NISDP), the Women Skills Empowerment Programme (WEP), and the Skills Development Programme for Youths in Construction Trade (CONCEPT) among several others.
