By Mohammed Mohammed
The Federal Government has charged youth in the country to embrace emerging trends in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) so as to equip themselves for the challenges of the 21st Century.
The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr. Sunday Dare, gave the charge over the weekend at the end of a three-week National Digital Skills Development Training (DY.NG) for unemployed youth at the National Youth Development Centre, Odoemu, Osun State.
This is coming even as the Director, Enterprise and Youth Development (EDP), Mr. Momoh Olugbenga stated at the end of the Digital Skills Development Programme for the Northern Zone and FCT held in Jos, said the training is aimed at complementing the commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari to lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty.
According to the Minister, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and use of other digital tools are changing the world of work, creating new jobs and business opportunities, transforming labour markets and educational systems, and significantly contributing to the socio-economic development of countries.
Represented by the Director, Procurement Department of the Ministry, Mr. Segun Oke, the Minister stated, “a general survey has indicated and confirmed that skills acquisition in various Digital and ICT fields coupled with entrepreneurship skills are one of the areas where jobs and employment opportunities abound necessary to promote economic growth and development of the country”
He reiterated Federal Government’s resolve to reversing the trend of unemployment by ensuring that the youth are given equal opportunities for self- actualization of their dreams and aspirations.
The training, Dare said, “Is therefore designed to equip the youth with requisite digital skill, knowledge and resources that will make them productive, thereby reducing poverty and creating an economically empowered youth population that will contribute meaningfully to national growth”
“The 3-week empowerment programme started with mandatory entrepreneurship and financial inclusion trainings to help the participants learn how to start small and manage their businesses, as well as how to take advantage of opportunities”, he said.
The Minister added that the participants, who are within ages 18 and 35, were grouped into various skills of interest like Robotics and Artificial Intelligence, Programming, Digital Marketing, Web Design and Financial Literacy Education.
He implored the youth to reciprocate the gesture of government by being good citizens, putting into use the skills acquired as well as the resources provided through the National Youth Investment Fund (NYIF), which some have already accessed, to become employers of labour in their various communities.
Earlier in her remarks, the Southern Programme Coordinator of the National Youth Empowerment Programme in Digital Skills Development, Mrs. Itohan Odigie, emphasized that the youth are potentially the greatest investment for a country’s development but are most vulnerable to the monster called Unemployment.
She commended the President Muhammadu-led Administration for its commitment to empowering the Nigerian Youth to be self-employed and urged them to key into the programme so as become employers of labour in their various fields of endeavour.