The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof Umar Garba Danbatta has charged the Nigerian youths, who participated in the nationwide digital literacy training conducted by the Commission, to put the skills acquired as well as the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools received during the exercise to appropriate and legitimate use.
Addressing the participants at the closing ceremony of the NCC’s Digital Literacy Training for the North-West held at the Kano Campus of the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI) on August 13, 2021, Danbatta urged the youths, who had the privilege of participating in the training, to apply the skills acquired in gainful activities in order for them to be self-employed.
He said: “The training has provided for you, useful skills, which you have acquired to earn a living for yourself without necessarily relying on government to give you a job. It is our hope at NCC that you will apply the skills appropriately and impact on your friends and associates. I also urge you to resist the temptations to sell the laptops and other IT tools you are going to be provided with.”
Speaking further, the EVC commended President Muhamamdu Buhari, the supervising Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami, and the Governing Board of the Commission for the implementation of the digital capacity-building initiative, describing the scheme as an important intervention approved by the Federal Government to make more Nigerian youths self-reliant.
According to him, the Federal Government’s policy in this direction is aimed at lifting Nigerians, particularly the youths, out of poverty, stressing that to achieve this, there is a need to impact skills to the youths who will, in turn, use the skills for self-employment.
Danbatta clarified: “It is consistent with this important policy of President Muhammadu Buhari that the Board of the NCC, two years ago, set up a committee of experts chaired by the former EVC of the Commission, Engr. Ernest Ndukwe, to develop modalities and syllabus for the digital training of youths across the six geo-political zones of the country.”
The industry regulator pointed out that the implementation of the recommendations of the committee of experts, as approved by the government, gave rise to the training, which targets 1,000 Nigerian youths to be digitally trained for self-employment.
Earlier in his remarks, the President of DBI, Prof. Muhammad Ajiya, who commended the EVC for his efforts towards the implementation of the government’s policy, said the various modules of the digital, moral and leadership skills given to the youths during the training would assist the beneficiaries to earn a living and be self-reliant.
The two-week training organized across the nation’s geo-political zones by the Commission was aimed at implementing the Federal Government’s policy to lift Nigerians out of poverty.
