The Industrial Training Fund (ITF) is wooing investors to mass-produce and market Nigeria’s first indigenous GSM smart-phone it developed.
The director-general of the organisation, Sir Joseph Ari, made the revelation during the graduation ceremony of the ITF/Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) vocational skills training programme on Monday.
Ari said the mobile phone was developed by the ITF’s Model Skills Training Centre (MSTC), Abuja and was recently unveiled at the 2020 Industrial Council Meeting by the Minister of Trade and Investment, Otunba Niyi Adebayo.
“Plans are underway to seek collaborations from investors to partner with the ITF to boost this innovation,” he said.
He attributed the feat to a visit by the NCDMB in late 2019 to the organisation’s MSTC in Abuja, which led to collaboration with the ITF for training and empowerment of 255 unemployed youths with technical vocational skills.
“I am thrilled to inform you that our trainees were able to assemble the first indigenous GSM smart-phone,” he said.
Ari said ITF’s commitment to skills acquisition was premised on the fact that it remained the most viable and sustainable solution to combating the rising unemployment and poverty in the country.
“I wish to use this opportunity to call on other stakeholders to partner the ITF to conduct similar programmes to empower our teeming youth population with requisite skills,” he said.
