The provision of massive employment opportunities through digital skills has informed the decision of the Federal Government through the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) to embark on several initiatives aimed at upskilling and reskilling Nigerians, in line with the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS).
The director-general of NITDA, Mallam Kashifu Abdullahi, stated this while delivering his goodwill message at the closing ceremony of the Creative Technology Programme, Phase 1 Training that focuses on business opportunities in Nigeria.
He said the programme is aimed at developing and retaining talents in Nigeria by promoting career skills and providing job opportunities among the beneficiaries to nurture and upskill Nigerians’ talents into viable career options and create an ecosystem that will boost the economic potential of all participants.
Represented by Dr. Salihu Abdulkarim, Abdullahi stated that the agency is making a tremendous effort in pursuing a robust and all-inclusive talents development agenda that will create a competitive environment for the development and production of IT goods and services in the country, adding that the programme would serve as a mechanism for diversifying the nation’s revenue using digital economy.
“The various capacity development programmes in our strategic plan have been designed to serve as a foundation for rapid development in all sectors, and we have built hundreds of digital capacity training centres and IT incubation hubs across the nation to facilitate these programmes.”
Abdullahi maintained that it is very important for Nigeria to build its talent from within because the nation is endowed with abundant talent.
“We have all we need to grow and compete with some of the biggest industries in the world. The retainment of talent within Nigeria can only happen if we all agree to stay here and build what we have. We have started building an ecosystem that will accommodate more people and help the development of a thriving community for tech talents in animation, games and AR within Nigeria,” he opined.
Acknowledging the intensity of the two-week training, Abdullahi informed the participants that their “work has just begun,” adding that bringing the participants together is very important to the growth Nigeria seeks in promoting Africa’s narrative in content creation.
“We see you all as creative technology ambassadors who will contribute positively to the Nigerian economy and build business opportunities within your sector. It is time to implement and we believe that you are all interested in bridging the creative technology skill gap,” he said.
While expressing his appreciation to the organiser of the capacity-building, Ascend Studios Foundation for partnering with NITDA on the “crucial project of skilling and upskilling Nigerians with the trending digital skill,” the NITDA boss enjoined the participants to ensure that they judiciously utilise the knowledge acquired and pledged that NITDA would continue to “support them in the best, possible ways.”
In all, 30 participants were successfully trained in the first phase of the programme and they are expected to train another 3000 participants across the country.
