The Directorate of the Human Resources Development Centre, University of Lagos (HRDC-UNILAG) and the Chartered Institute Of Purchasing and Supply Management of Nigeria (CIPSMN) have renewed partnerships to collaborate in the provision of quality manpower training for different individuals, groups and bodies in the public and private sectors of the economy.
This came to light as Dr. Lateef Odekunle, the Director/ Head of HRDC, led a team to engage the management of NIPSMN at the Lagos Headquarters Office of the institute.
In an interview with newsmen, Dr Odekunle explained that the collaboration between the two organisations has become imperative to engage in the provision of requisite manpower training for the nation.
He said, “As you know, we are a capacity-building centre for the University of Lagos. The Institute is also an accredited professional capacity-building centre as well.
“The Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply Management of Nigeria and the HRDC University of Lagos used to have a collaboration. However, somewhere along the line, the collaboration broke down for reasons not known to us. We saw in the record that there was an existing collaboration.
“So, in a bid to revitalise it, we wrote to them, and we were invited to discuss the way forward. I’m happy that we were able to discuss the previous arrangements of collaboration. The likely issues that led to the fall or collapse of that collaboration were discussed, and then we agreed that henceforth, we should come back, revitalise what appeared lost and create a kind of a future and thriving collaboration.”
He said as the world is globalising, such collaboration will expand the frontier of the manpower training provided by both organisations, saying it will expand the share of the market in quality manpower training for both organisations.
“For us and the institute, it will add to the quality of the certification that we jointly collaborate to produce. It only means that from the two ends, we’re combining knowledge in a university setting with professional practice from the Institute. So, at the end of the day, we have people that are well-built with skills and competencies.”
Speaking about what the public should expect in the forms of training for professionals from diverse backgrounds, the HRDC-UNILAG Director said the manpower training that will be provided by both organisations is beyond procurement alone, saying, “There’ll be stock keeping, Law, general management, soft skills, organizational behaviour, statistics, mathematics, economics, accounting, computer, and so on.”
The NIPSMN team led by Dr Aliyu Mohammed, the Registrar/CEO lauded the HRDC-UNILAG initiative aimed at revitalising the laudable collaboration between the institute as a professional body and the University of Lagos (UNILAG).
He explained that the collaboration between the two knowledge-sharing and reputable organisations is to further provide requisite soft skills for professionals from diverse fields of human endeavours.
“The partnership is basically about capacity building and certification programmes for a year or thereabouts. The programme will feature professional certification in procurement and supply chain management, record keeping and lots more. By collaborating with the institute as a professional body, it will give added value and recognition in all areas of partnerships. This is because nowadays, any certificate earned must be backed by professional certification, which an institute like NIPSMN, as a chartered body, has the expertise to provide.
He pledged the continued support of NIPSMN with the HRDC-UNILAG and assured that the institute would not relent in its advocacy for professionalism in procurement practice in Nigeria.
