The Director General of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Dr. Oluwatoyin Ogun, has declared that Nigeria must stop importing manpower under the guise of expatriates, stressing the need to build local industrial skills.
Speaking at the inauguration of the National Industrial Manpower Summit planning committee in Abuja, Dr. Ogun said the country’s industrial growth must be driven by skilled, globally competitive Nigerians—not just infrastructure or policies.
She highlighted ITF’s ongoing commitment to human capacity development, especially through the Skilled-Up Artisans (SUPA) programme, which was launched to retrain Nigerian artisans to meet international standards.
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Dr. Ogun called on stakeholders to support the initiative, emphasizing that no real economic development is possible without skilled local manpower.
Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Senator John Enoh, described the initiative as a critical move to unlock Nigeria’s industrial transformation and reinforce its position as Africa’s hub for industrial excellence.
