Ministry Of Labour Accredits Nigerian Air Force Tailoring Workshop, Recommends It For N-Power Programme

Ministry Of Labour Accredits Nigerian Air Force Tailoring Workshop, Recommends It For N-Power Programme

The Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment has accredited the Nigerian Air Force Investment Limited (NAFIL) Tailoring Workshop in Kaduna and recommended it for use as a training centre for tailoring and garment making for the N-Power Programme of the Federal Government. With this accreditation, the NAFIL Tailoring Workshop would be able to award Trade Test Certificates to its graduates. The Certificate of Accreditation was presented in Kaduna by the Representative of the Minister of Labour and Employment, Mr Ibrahim Jibia, who is the Ministry’s Director Skills Development and Certification Department. The Director commended the NAF for initiating such a laudable programme to enable youths acquire skills in tailoring and garment making. He urged other members of the Armed Forces to emulate the NAF to assist youths to become employers of labour through skills acquisition. Mr Jibia recalled that he led a team to assess the equipment and the overall environment of the workshop in September 2018 for the purpose of accreditation. According to him, “this is the only place we have visited for this kind of exercise and are satisfied even on our first visit”. He also expressed satisfaction with the level of participation of the local community in the tailoring workshop.

In his remarks, the Managing Director (MD) NAFIL, Air Vice Marshal (AVM) Abubakar Bagare, stated that the NAFIL Tailoring Workshop was the initiative of the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, to primarily make the NAF self-sufficient in uniform production. He revealed that the workshop was initially to be established in partnership with a foreign firm, with the NAF being required to contribute 300 Million Naira. He noted, however, that NAFIL seized the initiative and established the workshop with less than 45 Million Naira, thus abiding by one of the key drivers of the CAS’ Vision which is “Reinforcing a culture of self-reliance and prudent management of resources”. He further disclosed that the workshop, since inception, has been an avenue to train NAF personnel, their wards and members of the host community. The MD NAFIL added that the workshop has produced over 52,000 pairs of uniforms for the NAF and other security organizations.

Speaking during the event, the Air Officer Commanding Air Training Command, AVM Muhammad Suleiman, said NAFIL had not only provided the means to save hard earned foreign currency but had created an avenue for the development of NAF personnel, their wards and the host community. He extolled the leadership quality of the CAS in domesticating many aspects of NAF functions in order to harness abundant potentials in the Service. With a total staff strength of 106, comprising one officer, 37 airmen/airwomen and 68 civilians, the workshop runs round the clock in 3 shifts with various types of industrial tailoring machines.