The Industrial Training Fund (ITF) has registered 522,778 artisans under its Skill Up Artisans (SUPA) programme, covering 20 trade areas.

This was disclosed by ITF director-general, Dr. Afiz Ogun, during a joint briefing with the Chartered Institute of Project Managers of Nigeria (CIPMN) on special certification for Nigerian artisans, trained under the SUPA programme in Abuja.

Dr. Ogun detailed the gender distribution of the registered artisans, with 319,467 being male and 203,309 female. Plateau State has the highest registration at 53,133, representing 10.17 per cent of the total, followed by Kano with 43,239 artisans, or 8.27 per cent of the total. Geopolitically, the North-West leads with 141,378 registered artisans, accounting for 27.04 per cent of the total, while the South-South has the least with 35,544, or 6.79 per cent.

“The ITF is currently in robust discussions with the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to significantly increase registrations in the South-South region,” Dr. Ogun said.

He emphasised the importance of a well-developed curriculum in the success of skill-up programs. “ITF has created specialised curriculums for the Foundation Program across the 20 trade areas. For SUPA 1, CIPMN has developed the curriculum for Project Management certification, while Prime Atlantic is working on the Industrial Health and Safety curriculum. Additionally, ITF has internally developed the curriculum for Professional Ethics and Patriotism in collaboration with artisan organisations,” he added.