By Tope SUNDAY
Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Professor Idris Muhammed Bugaje
The Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Professor Idris Muhammed Bugaje, on Wednesday, warned that the proposed Industrial Training Fund (ITF) Amendment Act 2024 will disrupt Nigeria’s skills ecosystem and undermine established standards.
Speaking at the inauguration of the Sector Skills Council for Engineering during the second day of the 32nd Engineering Assembly organized by the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), Bugaje expressed serious concerns about the implications of the proposed legislation.
The House of Representatives Committee on Industry had in July organised a one-day public hearing on the proposed bill for stakeholders to hear their views.
Bugaje urged the National Assembly to scrutinize the proposed amendment act and resist any undue influence that could compromise the integrity of Nigeria’s skills development sector.
He said, ” The misadventure of the industrial training fund in amending its act to take over all these three roles must be called to order. The proposed ITF amendment act 2024 will not only clash with existing laws, including the law that established COREN, but it will create unprecedented chaos in the Nigerian skills ecosystem and compromise standards.
“We know ITF since its establishment was supposed to be funding the training of students under the Students Industrial Experience Scheme. This programme today has been abandoned.
“ITF will set up training centres all over the country. And now they want to become an awarding body. Taking over the job of COREN, Council for Builders; Council for Hospitality, Etc. And they even want to become the regulator of the skill sector”.
He criticized the ITF’s shift from its original mandate of funding student industrial training programmes to potentially becoming a regulatory and awarding body for various sectors, including engineering and hospitality.
Bugaje alleged that the ITF’s increased financial resources might be influencing its ambitions.
“By the huge cash they collect from industries; and they believe they can find their way in the national assembly by any means necessary. This must be stopped. Let me explain the word intoxication. Intoxication is not only from alcohol. Or abuse of substance. Drugs, etc. Sometimes if you have too much money. You become intoxicated.
“And that is what is happening to ITF. I think the new DG is a medical doctor, who has no experience in skills. And he wants to take over everybody’s job in the ecosystem. I think this must be stopped.
“I hope our national assembly will not become a police station where you can go and pay your way. They should stand up to this challenge, “he said.