The Nigerian Education Loan Fund and the Industrial Training Fund are exploring a new vocational training model designed to shift Nigeria's skills development focus from certificates and theory towards practical competence.

The proposed partnership between both government agencies is expected to support vocational and technical training, with artisans and aspiring craftsmen receiving hands on instruction from expatriate trainers while working towards internationally recognised certifications.

A visit to one of the training centres by the ITF Director of Special Duties, Kayode Alakija, revealed the progress made by trainees within three weeks of practical instruction. "I was privileged to be part of this project from the onset, and I knew how this workshop was before now," he stated, describing the transformation as evidence of the potential in practical skills training.

At the tiling section, trainees had recreated a real life toilet environment, including mounting a water closet and tiling around it, an exercise Alakija said exposed trainees to conditions they were likely to encounter on construction sites.

A trainee undergoing a Level One Diploma in Tiling, Abusuke Badare, described the early practical sessions as remarkable, noting she was amazed by what she had accomplished after only a few days of hands on training.

In the carpentry workshop, a Level One Diploma trainee, Mukta Oloriegbe, revealed that the training had exposed him to skills often neglected by artisans, particularly workplace safety, stating, "Most of the Nigerian artisans, we don't really take note of safety."

A British carpentry tutor on the programme, Andy Cranham, disclosed that trainees had progressed from basic butt joints to constructing truss rafters and hand cut roofs within three weeks, working entirely with hand tools to build fundamental skills.

NELFUND's Managing Director, Akintunde Sawyerr, had in November 2025 announced plans to extend the Fund's loan scheme to vocational and skills programmes, disclosing that the Fund had received 1.067 million applications at the time, with 624,000 students benefiting and N65 billion paid directly to 239 government owned institutions.

As of August 2026, NELFUND had received 1.6 million applications and disbursed over N322 billion across 319 beneficiary Institutions.

Alakija said the ITF leadership was committed to replicating the model across Nigeria's geopolitical zones, expressing hope that trained artisans would cascade their skills to others, adding, "If we're able to produce some thousands of artisans in various trades for five continuous years, then our story will change in Nigeria."