Dr. Oluwatoyin Afiz Ogun, Director General of ITF
By Felix Khanoba
The Industrial Training Fund (ITF) has begun preparations to enroll an additional 100,000 participants in the next phase of its Skill Up Artisans Program (SUPA).
This follows the successful completion of the program’s pilot phase, known as the SUPA Foundation.
In a statement, the ITF revealed that its Director General, Dr. Oluwatoyin Afiz Ogun, expressed delight on the impact of the program in addressing Nigeria’s skilled labour gap.
“Since its 54 years of existence, the Skill Up Artisan (SUPA) program of the ITF is its most well-thought-out and impactful intervention to address head-on the problem of availability of skilled manpower to Nigerian industries.
“SUPA aims to aggregate existing and intending artisans in Nigeria by leveraging technology, ascertain their skill level, implement training to upskill these artisans, expose them to international certification examinations, and ensure they are connected to the real economy either through direct employment or placement in foreign jobs,” he said.
Dr. Ogun emphasized the Fund’s dedication to delivering the program, saying “ITF is tasked with implementing this program drawing on its vast institutional and infrastructural capabilities, and I spared no effort in delivering on this task,” he added.
According to the statement, the SUPA program initiative is structured into three phases: Foundation, SUPA I, and SUPA II. While the Foundation phase introduces participants to the program, SUPA I focuses on soft skills, including certification in Artisan Project Management, Artisan Health and Safety, and Artisan Ethics and Patriotism. The final phase, SUPA II, offers advanced technical and entrepreneurial training, along with certification exams from international bodies.
To graduate 29,000 artisans during the Foundation phase in 2024, ITF created a registration platform (www.supa.itf.gov.ng), conducted screenings across 90 senatorial districts, and enlisted qualified training centers.
“ITF created a registration platform; www.supa.itf.gov.ng, conducted a screening exercise in each of the 90 Senatorial Districts in the country to validate the registered artisans, assessed and enlisted qualified Training Centres, and monitored training of artisans placed in those centres,” Dr. Ogun explained, adding that”Independent checks with the artisans who participated in the program confirm that, despite initial hiccups, they were duly paid the stipend promised by ITF, and the Training Centres were also paid.”
As the next phase begins, ITF said it has streamlined trainee onboarding and enhance the payment process for both artisans and training centres, adding The agency is also ramping up the production of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and acquiring Essential Training Materials (ETMs) to ensure smooth program delivery.
The upcoming phase will include the 29,000 artisans who completed the Foundation phase, with a formal notification of admission letters to be sent out soon. The full list of the 100,000 onboarded trainees will be available on the SUPA and ITF websites.
Training for Phase I will span approximately 6–8 weeks, culminating in a certification exam at no cost to participants. Successful candidates will progress to SUPA Phase II for specialized technical training and further certification.
Dr. Ogun also announced that ITF is planning another round of assessments to increase the number of training centres from 800 to at least 1,500.
He also said discussions are underway with original equipment manufacturers to facilitate bulk equipment purchases for training centres.
“To ensure that the three exits into the larger economy identified under SUPA are fully activated, ITF has reached an advanced stage in its work with the Nigerian Employers Consultative Agency (NECA) to link SUPA graduates with gainful employment in industries,” the statement added.
The agency said it is also finalizing structures for business incubation under SUPA, which will be tested through other special projects.
“Also, the structure for SUPA business incubation is being finalized and will be put to test in other Special Projects which will be delivered very soon and I’m doing all in my power to entrench SUPA as an alternative route to prosperity beyond formal education and this will automatically align ITF to its original mandate from inception which was to bridge the nation’s manpower needs through structured modular training,” Dr Ogun said.
