The Federal Government has restated its commitment to empowering artisans from the grassroots to enable them to upgrade their skills to meet national and global standards.
The Director-General of the Industrial Training Fund, Dr. Afiz Ogun, gave the assurance on Thursday while declaring open the Skill-Up Artisans Zonal Rally held in Kano to create awareness of the programme across the North-West region.
The DG represented by the immediate past Zonal Director of ITF, Muhammad Aminu, explained that the SUPA initiative is aimed at transforming artisans’ skills into sustainable livelihoods, turning them into employers of labour rather than job seekers.
He noted that the programme focuses on restoring dignity to skilled work and equipping artisans with relevant competencies that form the foundation of a strong and productive economy, in line with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
“We are calling on artisans in the North-West region to embrace the SUPA programme to upgrade their skills, improve their productivity, increase their income, and position themselves to compete not just locally, but nationally and globally,” Ogun said.
He urged traditional rulers, community and youth leaders as well as women leaders and trade associations to help ITF in spreading the message to enable artisans key into the programme.
He explained that the objective of the rally was to create awareness of the programme in the region to enable people make the best use of the opportunity provided by the Fund.
“We are here to speak to the artisans, the technicians, the tradesmen and women, the young men and women with talents in their hands and ideas in their minds, and the hardworking citizens who form the backbone of our economy,” he said.
Earlier in her remarks, Mrs. Nancy Ekong , Director, Technical Vocational Skills Training Department, said no fewer than 30,000 artisans were trained and upgraded in 2025 under the first SUPA programme.
The rally was attended by artisans across a wide range of trades including electrical installation, plumbing, welding and fabrication, carpentry, furniture making, automobile repairs, fashion design, construction, ICT and several other vocational and technical skills among others.
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