NITAD tasks FG on L&D Funding for economic growth

 

• Induces 24 members into Aviation chapter of NITAD in Lagos

The federal government has been advised to sufficiently fund institutions that are directly involved with training and development, so as to improve the economy holistically.

Mrs Janet Jolaoso, President /Chairman of Governing Council, Nigerian Institute of Training and Development (NITAD) who gave the advice pointed out, that if the government wants to develop the nation, they have to develop the people first.

Speaking at the first anniversary of Aviation Chapter of the Institute held at Pilots’ Lounge, Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Mrs Jolaoso warned that funding for training and development should not be seconded to any other thing.

The event with the theme: “Learning and Development: A Panacea For National Capacity Building“ saw 24 new members inducted into the fold by Aviation chapter of NITAD.

Explaining further, the President said “Learning and Development has to come first. This is because whatever resources, you have, if the people are not developed they cannot turn it round, they cannot build the economy”.

“Looking at what is happening in the whole world, you can see every economy is challenged. Post-covid has not been helpful at all. Even the biggest and largest economies of the world are rendered helpless. We need to come together to see how we can improve our economy. We can only do that when we learn and relearn. We believe that learning will lead to development. We have to develop new talents stills to tackle the new challenges”, she said.

Also speaking at the occasion, Dr Oladele Oyatope, Chairman of Lagos State Branch of the NITAD said that no nation can develop beyond the level of education in that nation and that no nation can grow beyond the capacity of its workforce.

According to Oyatope, it is learning and development that develop capacity, there is therefore, need for us all to build our skill and retrain to enhance performance through effective application of Learning and Development.

Advocating for a better legal framework for the institute, Oyatope advised “One way is for the government to take capacity building as a priority in terms of ensuring that it runs an effective system. Another way is to encourage Institutions that are responsible for LD. NITAD has been pursuing a process of chartering. The bill has run through all the processes; it was at the point of it being endorsed by the presidency that something happened and the process was halted. We are calling on government to ensure that process is concluded.”

The Lagos State Chapter NITAD leader however wants the government to strictly regulate the system, so as to get rid of quacks and also the professionals to operate optimally.

In his presentation, the coordinator of Aviation Chapter of NITAD, Mr Samuel Tai Akinro stated that for Nigeria to get things right, we as a people must imbibe the right attitude because attitude is a major factor that we need to correct.

He said that all and sundry must imbibe the right attitude at all times, if we must see the Nigeria of our dream.

“We want NITAD to play a vital role in shapening, re-orientating Nigerians. We will continue to play our part to all workforces and even the non workforce in the sectors” Akinro stated.

In the next one year, Akinro said that the expectation is to see changes in the attitude of aviation workers, the airports being the gateway to the nation.

Guest Speakers who made presentations at the event include: General Manager, Safety Services, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) , Rev Nath McAbraham Inajoh and Co-Speaker, Human Resources Director, Chi Limited, Lagos, Mrs Amaka Bifom.

In his presentation hinged on “Learning and Development: A Panacea For National Capacity Building” Rev Inajoh pointed out that as a nation all Nigeria has are her people.

According to him, once the country develops them with the knowledge, skill and technologies they need, they can now go back to their various industry and deploy what they have learnt embracing global best practices.

Inajoh advised government to stop patronizing those who are not professionals as their practice and involvement water down what we are doing.

Canvassing for adequate funding and strict regulation on learning and development, Inajoh said “government should regulate the industry. For instance, aviation industry is catching up, except they need more funding. A lot of aviation programmes and training are international because we don’t have enough local capacity to run them. You need money to execute such trainings, funding is an impediment”.