FCT Minister of State, Dr Ramatu Aliyu, has identified skills acquisition as the most enduring tool in tackling the twin problem of poverty and unemployment among youths and women.

Aliyu minister made the assertion at the closing ceremony of the National Industrial Skills Development Programme (NISDP), organised by the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), on Monday in Abuja.

Represented by the FCT Director of Youth Development, Mrs Hajarat Alayande, the Minister stressed the commitment of ITF to skills acquisition.

She noted that it remained the most viable and sustainable solution to rising unemployment and poverty that had continued to defy the best efforts of government policies and programmes.

Aliyu called on other organisations with similar mandates like the ITF, to come together to develop a pool of Nigerians with diverse skills that would take seize the opportunity of translating Federal Government policies to wealth.

She commended the management of ITF for training more than 18,000 Nigerians in the 2019 Skills Intervention Programme.

She said that the drive to equip as many Nigerians as possible with skills for employability and entrepreneurship, in order to create jobs and reduce poverty, was in line with ITF’s mandate and the policy objectives of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

Earlier, the Director-General, ITF, Mr Joseph Ari, pledged the commitment of the organisation in uplifting millions of Nigerians out of poverty.

Ari disclosed that other upcoming programmes would also turn the fortunes of a number of the beneficiaries and other intervention being implemented by the ITF.

Source:- Vanguardngr