The Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo has expressed optimism that
Nigeria can overtake India in the market for technology and innovation talent.
The Nigerian Vice President made the statement on
Tuesday during a flag-off ceremony of Google Digital Training for Youth Empowerment
in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory.
He said the administration would continue to explore creative
ways at empowering Nigerian youths.
“This would mean that we would be building more local
capacity to build, assemble hardware and to write innovative programmes.
“We will also be focusing on technology for media and
entertainment,” he said.
While the empowerment initiative launched is targeting
400,000 Nigerian youths at a start, Professor Osinbajo said the government was
determined to give every opportunity to younger generation to ensure they excel
with the use of modern technology.
He hinted that a special initiative on innovative technology
and start-ups, as well as presentation of prospective participants had already
been done in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt.
To achieve this, the Vice President stated that there were
many opportunities, as practically anything could be learned online today.
He added that there were also important opportunities for
those in the performing and film arts, which go beyond actual performing to
effective management of their talents, programmes and projects.
On her part, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on
Sustainable Development Goals, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefilure, said that
the programme was part of the government’s Sustainable Development Goals’
commitment.
She explained that it would be replicated in every state to
lift Nigerian youths from poverty.
Other top government officials at the event include the
Minister of Communication, Adebayo Shittu, Minister of Sports, Solomon Dalung
and Minister of Labour, Chris Ngige. They harped on the importance of the
training to youth development.
They promised to key into the move for positive development
of the youths.
The theme of the event was “Diversifying the Nigerian
Economy: Enabling Youth through Digital Skills Training”.
No comments:
Post a Comment