The North-East Development Commission, NEDC, has graduated 198 Youths in Information and Communication Technology, ICT and presented them with starter packs for skills in computer graphics and smartphone repairs in Gombe state.
The Managing Director of NEDC, Mr Mohammed Goni Alkali, said during the ceremony in Gombe that the graduation was for the first batch of youths that participated in the ICT skills acquisition training conducted at the commission’s centre in Gombe.
Mr Alkali said the training was in line with the National Agenda on ICT development in Nigeria to fast-track Economic Recovery and Growth Plan of the Federal Government, the commission recognized the critical role of technology in developing an inclusive, knowledge-driven and prosperous economy.
The Managing Director of the NEDC said 61, 026 candidates applied for the training in the Northeast, but that due to the present carrying capacity of the six centres, it admitted only 1, 200 in the first batch, and in Gombe State, 198 trainees graduated.
According to him, another set of 1,200 candidates have been invited to participate in the second batch of training, which will begin soon in all the six states of the Northeast.
He said that the presentation of the free starter packs and the sum of 20 thousand to each of the 198 successful graduands marked the completion of the first batch of the training.
Alkali said that the Federal Government’s intervention through NEDC in entrepreneurship and ICT training was to empower youth, make them self-reliant and turn them into employers of labour.
THE NEDC Managing Director also made other donations as part of the commission’s effort toward supporting the Federal Government and Gombe State’s fight against the second wave of the Covid-19.
“10, 000 pieces of branded facemasks for public primary schools, 5,000 for private primary schools; 4,000 branded facemasks for military and other security agencies and 5, 000 branded facemasks for NURTW. Two thousand assorted hand sanitisers, 100 pieces of infrared thermometers for primary schools. In line with the need to protect against COVID-19, especially among children in both public and private schools, security agencies and the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, we donate the following,” Mr Alkali said.
The North East Development Commission also donated several materials to aid learning to public day and boarding schools and private schools.
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More sets of relief items were also donated to flood victims in Nafada Local Government Area of the state, as well as agricultural machinery and equipment, seeds, fertilizers, agrochemical and other logistics to enhance the production capacity of smallholder farmers in the sub-region.
He said the commission made the donation because it observed the role played by the agriculture sector in providing in the country.
Similarly, the Managing Director said there were other Rapid Response Intervention Projects in education, health and agriculture in the state, while plans were on to build three mega schools and construct 500 houses.
In the meantime, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Special Duties, Senator Yusuf Abubakar Yusuf, the Chairman of the occasion, cautioned the beneficiaries against selling the starter packs, because of its impact on the economy and others.
The Governor of Gombe State, Alhaji Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for empowering the youths through ICT skills, stressing that the state had also keyed into the digital economy to empower its citizens.
He said his administration would continue to welcome all partnerships in ICT in view of the huge potential it held in job creation.
Zainab Sa’id
