BENIN CITY: The Executive Governor of Edo State Mr. Godwin Obaseki said his government will partner with the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) to develop human capacity saying the greatest asset any country could be proud of is its people not the machines or the buildings.

The governor disclosed this when he received the management of ITF in government house in Benin City.

Obaseki said when you have the right people who are properly motivated, who have the skills, proper attitude and ethics, there is no height they will not be able to conquer or attained.

He said if we do not go back to the core of identifying and ensuring that we bring our people to the 21 century standard, no matter the oil we explore as a people, development will not happen.

“We seek inner capacity building of our people in the civil, public and private sector, the civil service is even more urgent, let’s see how you can help us rebuild the core of our training structure. Our goal is to train young people and support them with credit. We have decided to re-enact the Benin Technical College, we have direct grant and support from the World Bank due to the performance of the former governor Comrade Adams Oshiohmole this grant will help us in our technical and vocation programme”.

Obaseki said ITF is seen as a viable tool to achieve what his administration is set out to do and achieve and the administration will be very pleased to partner with the body, he concluded.

The Director General of Industrial Training Fund (ITF) Sir Joseph Ari congratulated the governor for his victory in the September 28th 2016 governorship election in the state thanking him for the warm reception the body received during the visit.

He said the focus of the body is hands on, mind on and heart on approach to correct the emphases laid on paper qualification. He said the body Impact skills in the people develop their skills and export skills to other parts of the world.

“The empowerment of human capacity is what any nation will require to move it forward. Therefore, our mission today is to solicit for your partnership on what we are doing and lay before you, the programme we have for the country in other to raise the human capacity for our great nation which is part of our advocacy plan under which we code named “operation reach out”. We want Edo government to key into our flagship programme which is empowering the citizen which is equally on the front burner of this administration”.

Sir Ari said the group is in Edo State to find the dominant trade areas, synergize with the government to train 500 youths across the state and impact skills into them. He appeals to the government to assist the trainees with a start up tools that will make the trainees employers of labour instead of job seekers thereby encouraging Small and Medium Enterprise (SME).

“We appeal to the government to collaborate with us to set up a model skill training center for the state to help train Edo youths to become useful to the state” he concluded.