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ITF boss, Joseph Ari, Crowns Kurnajam ‘Minister of Defence’ of Gamai land

Published

2 years ago

January 3, 2023

Joel Ajayi

In further recognition of his efforts, services and contributions to his people and Nigeria at large, the Director General and Chief Executive of the Industrial Training Fund, ITF, Miskoom Joseph Ari, KSM, KSS was on Saturday December 31, 2022 recognized by the Gamai nation with the title of Kurnajam (Minister of Defence) of Gamai land.

***Sir Ari, Gov. Lalong and Mrs Ari at Coronation of Ari as Gamai nation with the title of Kurnajam (Minister of Defence) of Gamai land*** **on Saturday December 31, 2022, in Jos.**

The recognition was bestowed on Sir Ari by the Long Gamai of Gamai Nation, HRH Miskoom Martin Muduutrie Shaldas III, at the prestigious Gamai cultural festival, Bit Gamai 2022.

The Long Gamai who acknowledged the existence of similar title on the recipient from Kwo Chiefdom, said Sir Ari deserves more, given his services and contributions to his people and Nigeria, thus the need to elevate him.

Miskoom Shaldas III encouraged Sir Ari to continue with the good work and prayed for more wins for him.

Sir Ari in his response appreciated the the Gamai nation for the recognition and promised to live up to their expectations.
it will be recalled that recently, the home-grown initiatives that expanded existing skills acquisition programmes leading to the training and empowerment, in four years, of over 500,000 Nigerians who are today earning sustainable livelihood as paid employers and entrepreneurs, Sir Joseph Ari is the LEADERSHIP Public Servant of the Year 2022.

As Director-General of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Sir Joseph Ari has made his mark as an outstanding public officeholder. Most remarkable of his achievements is the unveiling of the ITF Reviewed Vision: Strategies for Mandate Actualisation. The plan, which was initially slated to terminate in 2022, was, however, reviewed in 2020 to address gaps identified in the course of its implementation, and to appropriately respond to the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on numerous clients.The plan enabled the ITF to aggressively address service challenges by computerising its operations and tackling infrastructural challenges to expand access to Nigerians desirous of acquiring skills, and generally address a gamut of other structures that were impinging on its ability to effectively discharge its mandate for national economic growth and development and to meet the skills requirement of the nation in line with global best practices.

Ari was appointed Director- General/chief executive of the Industrial Training Fund in 2016 by President Muhammadu Buhari, with the mandate to develop a vast pool of skilled manpower sufficient to meet the needs of the public and private sectors of the national economy.He believes that until most Nigerians are equipped with competitive technical skills, Nigeria as a nation will continue to fight a losing battle against the blights of poverty and unemployment and their attendant consequences.

This belief was inspired by success stories from countries like Japan, Germany, Vietnam, Singapore and Brazil which transformed into industrial power-houses using technical and vocational skills acquisition.With this as his driving principle, Ari hit the ground running by implementing so many home-grown skills intervention programmes, namely: the National Industrial Skills Development Programme (NISDP), the Construction Skills Empowerment Programme (CONSEP), the Skills Trainingand Empowerment Programme for the Physically Challenged (STEPP-C), the Passion to Profession Programme (P2PP) and the Agripreneurship Training Programme (ATP).In all, these programmes have trained thousands of Nigerians for between three and six months in the following trade areas: web design and programming, advanced computer networking, mobile app development, iron bending, masonry, crop production, aquaculture, poultry, air-conditioning and refrigeration, plumbing, GSM repairs and ladies’ wig/cap making.

The ITF, on Ari’s watch, has forged a rare collaboration that has brought synergy to its operations. The Fund is currently in partnership with SENAI of Brazil, Institute of Technical Education Services (ITEES)of Singapore, Galilee International Management Institute (GIMI) in Israel, International Labour Organisation (ILO), United Nations Industrial De- velopment Organisation (UNIDO) and many others as part of further efforts to equip Nigerians with requisite vocational trade skills and lift thousands out of poverty.

These partnerships paved the way for the establishment of ITF Model Skills Training Centre (MSTC), Abuja, and many others.

In recognition of his impressive performance, and for effectively repositioning the Fund as a dependable ally of the federal government, particularly with regards to jobs and wealth creation, Ari was reappointed for another four year term.Ari is presently on many federal government committees, including the Micro, Small andMedium Enterprise (MSME) Council chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; he is also a member of the MSMEs Survival Fund for artisans to drive the implementation of the various support schemes for MSMEs in the country as part of the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic and government’s Social Investment Programmes under the Economic Sustainability Plan.

Similarly, the ITF on his watch was among the few agencies requested by the federal government to forward submissions on lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years.

If the proposal which is currently receiving the attention of the authorities is assented to, the ITF will train over 7 million Nigerians in the agriculture, construction and facility maintenance, information and communication technology, manufacturing and services sectors between 2022 and 2031.

Apart from equipping thousands of Nigerians with technical and vocational skills for employability and entrepreneurship, the Fund has produced an indigenous 4G smart mobile cellphone from locally sourced materials which it presented to President Muhammadu Buhari recently.

It has also initiated processes for the mass production of the mobile phones as it has moved to install a production line specifically for that purpose at the ITF Model Skills Training Centre (MSTC), Abuja.Ari also completed and commissioned all abandoned projects of the Fund.

They include the ITF Lagos Island Area Office, the Mechatronics Workshop in Kano State, the Area Office Complex in Katsina State, the Central Store Complex, and E-Library Complex at the ITF Headquarters.
Other projects completed include the Gusau, Minna, Aba and Awka Area Office Complexes and Vocational Wings, the Multi-purpose Building in Maitama, Abuja, the proposed Institute of Hospitality Management at Oba Akran in Lagos, Headquarters Auditorium and Gymnasium, the access road to the Headquarters Auditorium and Gymnasium, and a special Agriculture Green House at Ofada-land in Ogun State.

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Business

Tax Reform Bills: The Verdict of Nigerians

Published

3 weeks ago

March 6, 2025

The Gleamer

Ismaila Ahmad Abdullahi Ph.D

The public hearings conducted recently by the two Chambers of the National Assembly have elicited positive responses from a broad spectrum of Nigerians, cutting across regional interest groups, government agencies, civil society groups, concerned individuals, the academia, and Labour Unions, among diverse others. Contrary to a few dissensions hitherto expressed in the media, almost all the stakeholders who spoke during the week-long sessions were unanimous in their declaration that the hallowed Chambers should pass the tax reform bills after a clean-up of the grey areas.

The public hearings were auspicious for all Nigerians desirous of economic growth and fiscal responsibility. They were also a watershed moment for the Federal Inland Revenue Service, which had been upbeat about the tax reforms. Indeed, the public hearings had rekindled hope in the tenets of democracy that guarantee freedom of expression and equitable space for cross-fertilisation of ideas. Without gainsaying the fact, the tax reform bills have been unarguably about the most thought-provoking issues in Nigeria today, drawing variegated perspectives and commentaries from even unlikely quarters such as the faith-based leaders, student bodies, and trade unions, which speaks much about the importance of the bills.

In the build-up to the public hearings, not many people believed that the bills would make it to the second reading, much less the public hearings. Even the Northern stakeholders who seemed unlikely to support the passage of the bills have softened their stance and have given valuable suggestions that would enrich the substance of the bills. The Arewa Consultative Forum came to the public hearings well-prepared with a printed booklet that addressed their concerns. It concluded with an advisory that the bills should be “Well planned, properly communicated, strategically implemented and ample dialogue and political consensus allowed for the reforms to be accepted.”

The concerns of ACF ranged from the composition of the proposed Nigeria Revenue Service Board as contained in Part 111, Section 7 of the bill, the unlimited Presidential power to exempt/wave tax payment as proposed in Section 75(1) of the bill, the family income or inheritance tax as contained in Part 1, Section 4(3) of the bill, to the issues around development levy and VAT. On the development levy, the ACF stated that unless the Federal Government is considering budgetary funding for TETFUND, NASENI and NITDA, it does not see the “wisdom behind the plan to replace (them) with NELFUND”.

The position of the North was equally reinforced by the Supreme Council for Shariah in Nigeria, Northern Elders Forum, Kano State Government, Professor Auwalu Yadudu, and the FCT Imams. Like the ACF, these stakeholders lent their respective voices to the Section on the Inheritance Tax in Part 1 of the bill and the use of the term ‘ecclesiastical’, which, in their views, undermines certain religious rights and beliefs. The Kano State Government, represented by Mahmud Sagagi, affirmed that “we support tax modernisation” but cautioned that “we must ensure that this process does not come at the expense of states’ constitutional rights and economic stability”. Professor Auwalu Yadudu, a constitutional law professor, drew attention to the use of the ‘supremacy clause’ and cautioned that the repeated use of “notwithstanding” in the bills would undermine the supremacy of the Nigerian constitution if passed as such.

Other stakeholders that made contributions at the sessions included the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas, Fiscal Responsibility Commission, Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria, Nigeria Customs Service, and a host of others. While most of their concerns bordered on technical issues requiring fine-tuning, they were unanimous in their support for the bills. They aligned with the position of the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Zacch Adedeji, Ph.D. and the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, which is that the extant tax laws and fiscal regulations are obsolete necessitating reforms aimed at creating a fair and equitable tax and fiscal space to grow Nigeria’s economy.

In one of the sessions, Dr Zaach Adedeji expounded on the criss-cross of trade activities in the Free Trade Zone whereby companies misuse tax waivers as exporters to sell their goods or services in the Customs Area at an amount usually less than the price the operators in the Customs Area who pay VAT and other taxes sell theirs thereby disrupting business transactions. This way, the operators in the Free Trade Zone shortchange the government in paying their due taxes by circumventing extant regulations, which are inimical to the economy’s growth.

Overall, the presentations were forthright, foresighted, and helpful in elucidating the issues contained in the bills. According to the statistics read out at the end of the hearings at the Senate, 75 stakeholders were invited, 65 made submissions, and 61 made presentations. At the House of Representatives 53 stakeholders made presentations. By all means, this is a fair representation. Given the presentations, it is evident that the National Assembly has gathered enough materials to guide its deliberations on the bills. As we look forward to the passage of the bills, we commend the leadership of the National Assembly for their unwavering commitment to making the bills see the light of the day.

Abdullahi is the Director of the Communications and Liaison Department, FIRS.

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