FG unifies skills development, ends ITF-NBTE supremacy battle

Years of institutional rivalry between Nigeria's Industrial Training Fund (ITF) and the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) over the regulation of skills development have officially ended. The Federal Government, through the Office of the Vice President and the National Council on Skills, has established a new governance framework that clearly delineates responsibilities for both agencies.

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The conflict between NBTE and ITF over the regulation of the Nigerian Skills Qualification Framework is over. ITF is now in charge of the Nigerian Skills Qualification Framework. They are regulated on the overall, while NBTE will limit itself to education and educational institutions.

Under the reforms, the administration of the Nigerian Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF), the Secretariat of the National Council on Skills, and the Secretariat of WorldSkills Nigeria are transferred to the ITF. The NBTE will now concentrate exclusively on regulating formal technical and vocational education institutions. This move is expected to foster a more coordinated national skills ecosystem.

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That’s a major achievement because in the past we were having a lot of media wars and battles and so on over the role of each one of us in the NSQF. Now it has been transferred to the ITF.

Prof. Idris Bugaje, Executive Secretary of the NBTE, and Afiz Ogun, Director-General of the ITF, announced the resolution at a joint media briefing in Abuja. They described the agreement as a significant achievement, ending years of public disagreements and overlapping mandates that had hindered progress. Bugaje emphasized that the ITF is now in charge of the NSQF, while the NBTE's role is confined to educational institutions. He also noted the transfer of the WorldSkills Nigeria Secretariat to the ITF, aiming to strengthen the link between skills training and industry needs. The ITF will also operate the WorldSkills Academy in Abuja.

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The Secretariat of the National Council on Skills is now the ITF. They will coordinate the entire activities of the National Council on Skills, chaired by the Vice President.