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THE National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, has advised Nigerian youths to develop their digital skills to support government effort toward building the digital economy. Kashifu Inuwa, director-general, NITDA, said developing digital skills would help the youths to be self-reliant post-COVID-19 era.
Inuwa gave the advice during an online interactive session with Nigerian youths on the topic: ‘Education, Employment and Technology in Nigeria: Gaps and Opportunities Post COVID-19 Pandemic.’ The meeting was organised by the Global Shapers Community, an international Non-Governmental Organisation, NGO, which specialises in outsourcing talents, creating jobs, and building careers.
According to him, Nigerian youths should stay committed and focused on their endeavours because the time to hold-on to only educational qualifications without prerequisite skills is gone, especially now that the world has changed in different dimensions. “The outbreak of the novel Coronavirus has been a monumental disaster globally.
“It has led to unprecedented disruptions to the global economy, sharp drop in global crude oil prices, Nigeria economic mainstay, and financial markets are struggling; massive loss of employment to the teeming youth, the lockdown of schools and institutes of higher learning, among others.
“As of March 28, 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic is causing more than 1.6 billion children and youth to be out of school in 161 countries. This is close to 80 percent of the world’s enrolled students,” he said.
Inuwa said prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the unemployment rate was 23.1 percent in 2019, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, while some predicted it could reach 33 percent by the end of 2020. He further said youth unemployment and underemployment are 55.4 percent and with the existence of the pandemic, the statistics will increase.
“To overcome these challenges of illiteracy and unemployment amongst the population of our teeming youth, there is a need for careful planning to harness the opportunities the pandemic presented. These opportunities can come through by using technology as a tool for human capital development and employment for the next generation to curb the impact of the pandemic.”
Inuwa recalled that the agency launched a Virtual Academy in May to enable interested candidates to engage their time meaningfully and learn some skills, while schools were shut down, among other interventions. “We have 47 different technology-related courses and so far 18,000 students have started taking lessons. This is part of our commitment to creating opportunities to deal with the challenges of COVID-19 lockdown.
“We also launched an innovative challenge for Nigerians to come up with workable solutions to mitigate the impact of the pandemic. We got close to 2,000 applicants with lots of interesting ideas from different parts of the country,” he said.
– Jun. 26, 2020 @ 15:09 GMT |
Tags: NITDA tasks Nigerian youths to contribute to digital economy
