An ICT expert, Akindayo Akindolani, urged the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and the Federal Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy to expand the reach of the African Development Bank’s (AfDB) Code for Employment initiative to all 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Nigeria.
This call was made during a two-day summit organized by Afritex in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Education in Abuja. Akindolani highlighted that NITDA’s establishment of computer centers across the 774 LGAs could be leveraged to extend the reach of the digital ambassadors trained by the AfDB in collaboration with Microsoft and the McAnderson Institute of Technology (MIT).
By implementing this initiative, Akindolani suggested that more unemployed youth in grassroots areas could benefit, potentially mitigating the country’s escalating unemployment rates. The capacity-building programs would equip these beneficiaries with skills for lucrative remote positions within the digital realm, paving the way for better employment opportunities.
Akindolani said: “NITDA can scale the project in all the 774 LGAs by empowering the Digital Ambassadors trained to continue the redeployment of the capacity building in their local governments.
“I am confident that code for employment is capable of reducing unemployment once we expose our youth to the required skills for future jobs. Once our people are rightly skilled with the in-demand-driven skills, then getting a job placement within and outside Nigeria would be an easy thing.”
The AfDB’s Code for Employment program is a pilot project where 500 change makers, 45 percent of whom are women from four countries, were selected for the digital ambassadors program.
The selected digital ambassadors embarked on a three-month course during which they were equipped with in-demand digital skills, such as software development.
Also, soft skills, such as problem-solving, project management, and communication.
The beneficiaries are subsequently allowed to partake in a peer-to-peer training model that seeks to expand digital skills to more African youth, especially in rural communities with limited internet connectivity.
Akindolani said the code for the employment program is operational in Côte d’Ivoire with 75 participants, 100 beneficiaries from Kenya, about 150 from Nigeria, and 175 youth from Senegal.
