The Federal Government of Nigeria has launched the Digital Economy Employability Programme to empower youths and increase the employability rate of Nigerian youths.
The initiative, aimed at National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members, was launched concurrently in seven NYSC sites across the country.
NITDA Director General Kashifu Inuwa officially opened the program at the NYSC Camp in Kubwa, Abuja, and stated that its main objective was to provide Nigerians with current and relevant digital literacy and skills that would expose, prepare, and connect them to in-demand career opportunities that are available in the global digital economy.
It is hoped that the initiative will assist Nigerians in finding work opportunities in the digital economy.
Kashifu said, “This projection implies that many Nigerians, both in the IT and non-IT spaces, must acquire digital literacy and skills to thrive in this current fourth industrial revolution.”
“Given our huge population of about 218 million, of which about 50 percent is constituted by youths, we have enough potential human capital to drive the data economy, and that is why we have decided to flag off this program in seven NYSC strategic camps.”
“We believe that the NYSC camps hold the brightest and most intelligent Nigerian youths.
“We believe that corps members will not only benefit from this program but will create a multiplier effect by transferring the knowledge and skills acquired during this program to other Nigerians, and this will help the country realize its target of 95 percent digitally literate Nigerians by 2030. There is no better time to embrace digital transformation than now.
“The world is moving away from a natural resource-based economy to a digital and knowledge-based economy, more attention and efforts are being put into human capital and digital technologies and Nigeria should not be left out of this fast-moving train,” he added.
