The Industrial Training Fund (ITF) has opened a 47,600-litre-capacity filling station in Jos, Plateau State, to provide relief to its employees from the rising cost of fuel. With petrol prices above N1,400 per litre at many filling stations, the ITF facility offers employees access to fuel without having to bear the entire financial burden. The station, which was previously underutilized, has been rehabilitated and modernized under the ITF's Renewed Hope Agenda.
The ITF Director-General, Afiz Ogun, who commissioned the facility, said the initiative was part of his administration's commitment to staff welfare. Ogun recalled that he promised to prioritize workers' welfare when he assumed office on October 17, 2023. The facility allows employees to buy fuel and have the cost deducted gradually from their salaries, providing significant relief at a time when the rising cost of petrol has become one of the most visible pressures on workers' incomes.
The ITF filling station occupies a 2,150-square-metre area and has been designed to dispense Premium Motor Spirit. Provision has also been made for Compressed Natural Gas, which is yet to be installed. According to Dauda Msheliza, Director of the Estate Management Department, the contract for the project was awarded on May 16, 2025, and completed in March 2026. The project is one of several initiatives being implemented by Ogun's administration.
Ogun explained that the ITF's responsibility goes beyond technical skills training, adding that the organization is also teaching entrepreneurship, patriotism, ethics, safety, and project management. He announced plans to establish specialized centers across the country, including ceramics in the North Central, leather in the North West, and metals in the South East. The ITF is also set to commission about 24-25 flats and West Africa's first Digital Fabrication Centre in Ogbomoso.
The ITF initiative offers a lesson for other public institutions, government agencies, and private organizations. Where employers cannot immediately raise salaries enough to match rising living costs, they can explore practical welfare schemes that reduce workers' expenses. The Jos fuel station may therefore be more than a new facility; it could represent a different way of thinking about staff welfare.
For ITF employees, the facility provides a practical solution to the financial burden of fuel. Instead of having to find the full amount for fuel whenever they visit a filling station, employees will be able to obtain petrol through the facility and have the cost deducted gradually from their salaries. This arrangement could provide significant relief, particularly in a country where the cost of living has risen alongside transportation and energy costs.
The ITF's welfare and institutional development programme includes several initiatives aimed at improving the lives of its employees. The organization is committed to staff welfare, and the commissioning of the fuel station is just the first of many projects. With its focus on skills acquisition, automation of work processes, and staff welfare, the ITF is setting an example for other organizations to follow.
Key points
- ITF opens 47,600-litre-capacity filling station in Jos to ease fuel burden on employees
- Facility allows employees to buy fuel and have cost deducted gradually from salaries
- ITF initiative offers lesson for other organizations on practical welfare schemes to reduce workers' expenses
