An online newspaper, African Examiner on Monday, August 1, 2022, by African Examiner, published a story that ‘an allegation of fraud and misappropriation of funds is currently rocking the Industrial Training Funds (ITF)’. The report caught my curiosity and I wish to use this medium to emphatically state that, the story is unfounded and outright falsehood as it is just a figment of the writer’s imagination.
The publication is not only malicious but also an act of sabotage aimed at frustrating the current robust and pragmatic policies and programmes of the current ITF management under the able leadership of Mr. Joseph Ari.
It is on record that ITF Director/General/CEO, Joseph Ari, has since assuming office, formulated several pragmatic policies and programmes aimed at instituting sanity in the agency in order to achieve the mission, vision and core values of the agency, which was established in 1971.
There is no gain-saying the fact that the report is an attempt to give a dog a bad name in order to hang it. Sir Joe Ari will forever prosper and grow to greatness for his honest services to the father land. The success story of the ITF, sincerely, cannot be complete without his immense and monumental contributions as the Fund has attained greater heights under his watch than any other DG/CEOs of the agency in recent time.
In the interest of rewarding hard work and encouraging corporate organisations and individuals who have distinguished themselves in their various assignments, the online newspaper should desist from its malicious and libelous publications.
The general public should disregard the falsehood in its entirety. It is shocking and rather unfortunate that Sir Joe Ari who is revered and reputable in fighting financial leakages, could be so brazenly accused by a mushroom online newspaper.
ITF has come a long way and it is now a house household name for integrity and sincerity of purpose in all its operations since inception and it’s DG should be commended for a job well done rather than being maligned.
However, Ari has said he cannot be distracted by the malicious story, adding that ITF is currently putting finishing touches to the processes and modalities that will enable it to begin mass production of Android phones for Nigerians.
Ari spoke in Jos on Monday during a media briefing organised by the ITF to unveil its strategic policy direction for the 2022-2025 period.
‘According to the DG, apart from the need to widen the capacity of the machines involved in the mass production of Android phones, there was also the need for the agency to finalise the legal framework for intellectual property rights.
Ari said, “Yes, it is true that in June last year we gave a sample of our android mobile phone to President Muhammadu Buhari. But you know that the issues surrounding productions are long and varied. As I speak, two weeks ago, I was able to inspect the assembly plant which has now been installed at the Model Skill Training Centre in Abuja because we needed to widen the capacity of the machines but they have now been installed.
“We needed to also work with other regulatory agencies in terms of drawing the legal framework and other things and we are now at the concluding aspect to get the legal framework for the purpose of intellectual property rights. So, from June last year till now, we have done a lot to ensure that we roll out the mass production of the Android mobile phones.
Afrione, an Indian company, has also approached us to partner with us in the area of capacity building and we have already signed a memorandum of understanding in that regard. So the roll out plan is on course.”
The director-general decried the high rate of unemployment in the country, which is over 33 per cent, pointing out that the situation has persisted mainly because over 23 million Nigerians who are desirous to work lack the requisite skills.
He said, “It is based on the above and in line with our mandate of developing a vast pool of skilled manpower sufficient to meet the needs of the public and private sectors of the national economy, coupled with resolutions at the recently concluded ITF National Skills Summit in Abuja, that we found it imperative to review and refocus our strategies to address the above challenges and to meet the skills requirement of the nation in line with global best practices.
“In arriving at our strategies, we considered the need to scale up our activities to address the soaring unemployment and other socio-economic challenges by leveraging on our three Es (Experience, Expertise and Expansive network), deployment of technology for wider coverage and more flexible service delivery.”
Ari explained that the new policy framework, which had as its theme, ‘Re-Engineering Skills for Sustainable Development’ had external and internal components.
“To actualise this, the Fund will develop National Occupational Standards; Evaluate and certify apprentices, technicians and craftsmen; Train and certify learning and development professionals and; Create and maintain a data bank on skills training.
When fully in place, our efforts will lead to the development of a robust National Occupational Standard (NOS); create a pool of certified apprentices, technicians and craftsmen, assessors and verifiers as well as create a pool of certified learning and development professionals and a regulated skills training environment,” he added.
From the foregoing pragmatic policies and programmes of the ITF, one wonders how the African Examiner condescend so low by throwing credibility to the dogs in its attempt to blackmail the agency and its management.
It is, therefore, high time the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and other regulatory bodies rid the the noble journalism profession of quacks as well as sanction media platforms which are in breach of the professional ethics and principles such as African Examiner.
Journalists should endeavour to verify their facts and figures and have the interest of our dear nation at heart as baseless and malicious accusations could discourage people of impeccable character like Sir Joseph Ntung Ari from our nation meritoriously.
El-Adanu, a media and communication specialist, writes from Abuja via [email protected]
