The Federal Government has trained youths on digital skills in the six geo-political zones as part of efforts to engage the youth and create jobs.
Speaking at the closing ceremony of the digital jobs creation trading today (April 30, 2021), the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Pantami said the objective of the training was to ensure that Nigerians have the adequate digital access and digital literacy skills required to create digital jobs that could drive the digital economy of the country.
He said it was in line with the Digital Nigeria Programme launched by President Muhammadu Buhari, on March 19, 2020, and the Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) of government, which aimed to enable Nigerians to respond robustly and appropriately to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and propose clear-cut strategies to keep existing jobs and create opportunities for new ones.
“The Digital Job Creation Programme also aligns with several pillars of the National Digital Economy Policy for a digital Nigeria, including Pillar #2 on Digital Literacy and Skills. This pillar recognises the fact that citizens are the greatest assets in the digital economy and it supports the development of a large pool of digitally literate and digitally skilled citizens. The ministry is championing a paradigm shift that lays an emphasis on skills, in preference to merely having degrees without skills, since degrees are meant to validate skills,” he further stated.
Participants were provided with laptops and some stipends in addition to the digital skills acquired during the training.
They will also be provided with a modem with one year broadband subscription.
A statement by the minister’s spokesperson, Mrs Uwa Suleiman, said Pantami urged participants to take the opportunity given to them with all seriousness and ensure that they make good use of the knowledge and tools that have been provided to create jobs for themselves and others in various sectors of the economy. He also encouraged them to take advantage of the mentorship opportunities that would be made available and to commit to continuous acquisition of skills.
The training, which was coordinated by the ministry, commenced on March 8, 2021, and took place in 12 states, covering all the 6 geo-political zones in the country, as follows: Nasarawa and Kogi (North-Central), Imo and Enugu (South-East), Katsina and Jigawa (North-West), Oyo and Ogun (South-West), Borno and Taraba (North-East) and, Edo and Delta (South-South).
