The Federal government has pledged to enhance digital skills acquisition in several parts of Nigeria in 2021.
As part of the implementation of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy for a Digital Nigeria, the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy has concluded a five day training on digital job creation in 5 States of Nigeria
The ceremony was a culmination of the first phase of the training that took place simultaneously in five States of the country, namely; Oyo, Ogun, Katsina, Jigawa and Imo.
In his keynote address, presented virtually as special guest of honour during the closing ceremony, the Minister, stressed that the capacity building programme is part of the Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP)approved by the Federal Government to create digital jobs and opportunities for Nigerians.
The ESP aims to enable Nigerians to respond robustly and appropriately to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a statement by Minister’s Technical Assistant, IT ,Dr. Femi Adeluyi said the objective of the training is to ensure that Nigerians have the adequate digital access and digital literacy skills required to create digital jobs that can drive the Digital Economy of the country.
Dr. Isa Pantami urged the participants to challenge themselves in order to stay motivated so that they can improve their level of skill.
“Digital Skills is the most precious and respected skills globally. It is because of this we want to empower Nigerians with the required digital skills to thrive in the digital space.”
The Minister encouraged them to identify challenges in different sectors of the economy that their newly acquired digital skills can address.
He also tasked them to take advantage of the mentorship opportunities that will be made available.
The Digital Job Creation Programme is in line with the Digital Nigeria Programme launched by, President Muhammadu Buhari on the 19th of March 2020.
It 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 deference to merely having degrees without skills, since degrees are meant to validate skills.
In addition to the digital skills acquired during the training, all participants also received laptops, cash stipend , access to a fully equipped kiosk and certificates.
They will also be provided with a modem with 1 year broadband subscription at an appropriate time, after the issue of suspension of the sale of new SIMs is resolved.
The next phase of the training is scheduled to commence in other parts of the country in a few days.
Suzan O
