The Industrial Training Fund (ITF) has partnered with Lanre Shittu Motors, a leading local automotive company, to equip over 3,000 Nigerian artisans with globally competitive technical skills. The initiative is aimed at enhancing workforce competence, improving employability, and raising industry standards. It also aligns with government policies that promote collaboration between the public and private sectors to create jobs and build local capacity.
The Director General of the ITF, Dr. Afiz Oluwatoyin Ogun, said the partnership has already completed its first training phase, which focused on project management, ethics, and global safety practices. According to him, the collaboration represents a practical step towards equipping Nigerians with the technical know-how needed to meet international standards.
“We should scale up Nigerian artisans to international standards. You can see everything we have seen here is international standards. I was saying it just now that the executive bus I saw there is even more beautiful, aesthetically better, and structurally better than what I saw last week in China. That gladdens my heart. That means we are working. That means Nigeria is moving,” he said.
Dr. Ogun also expressed satisfaction with the active involvement of young people in the programme. “And look at the workers there. Look at the youths there in the training. You see them 19, 20, from all the nooks and crannies of Nigeria. This gladdens my heart and makes me very happy,” he said.
He further explained that the goal of the ITF is to expand training access and empower more Nigerians through practical skill development. “So our purpose is to make more Nigerian twins, bring more trainees to them. That’s why we are here, so that they train them, so that they can be fully employed, having their own business. And those that want to travel can even travel and get better good jobs also from there, and transferring more technology home and bringing the dollars home too,” he added.
Lanre Shittu Motors, a key partner in the initiative, disclosed that more than 3,000 ITF trainees have already completed training at its facilities. The company has expanded its training classrooms in Abuja from a capacity of 50 to 250, with similar upgrades ongoing in Lagos and planned for other parts of the country. Both organisations emphasized that the new empowerment model goes beyond giving starter packs to participants. It focuses on securing job placements, exporting skilled talent for international exposure, and building business incubation platforms that help trainees become globally competitive.
The Group Managing Director of Lanre Shittu Motors, Taiwo Shittu, commended the collaboration and praised government support for the automotive industry. “What is in it for me is to first thank the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for introducing the Nigerian Automotive Policy. And that says that everybody should go back and patronize Made in Nigeria everything,” he said.
He also noted ITF’s commitment to closing the technical skills gap in Nigeria. “I see a new ITF because they’ve sent over 3,000 students to us to train and they are sending more. And they are not just sending them, we train them and they empower them. And that gives us, when it comes to Nigeria, what is missing is the technical know-how,” he said.
Shittu added that the initiative is helping address youth unemployment by focusing on practical technical skills. “So if you have a philanthropist like this ITF under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu passing this knowledge and making sure Nigerians are empowered because we have a lot of graduates in Nigeria right now without jobs. But there’s that technical shortage in Nigeria that they are trying to fill in. And with this, the sky is the limit for young Nigerians.”
With upgraded facilities, modern training programmes, and a focus on international standards, the ITF said the partnership will play a vital role in preparing Nigerian youth for better opportunities in the country’s growing automotive sector.
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