From Ahmad SAKA, Bauchi
The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development has trained, certificated and equipped 1500 beneficiaries in the North-East subregion.
The beneficiaries are 0ut of the over 20000 to benefit nationwide, in continuation of its efforts to reduce unemployment among the youth across the country, .
They were drawn from the six states of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe states were trained for 3 months in three clusters of creative arts (animation), computer hardware (repairs and installation, fixing of Android phones) and script writing.
After undergoing the 90 days training conducted by professionals at the Abubakar Tatari Ali Polytechnic (ATP), Bauchi, the beneficiaries were given starter packs based on their fields of specializations as well as a token amount to be used to take off.
Addressing the beneficiaries at the Abubakar Tatari Ali Polytechnic ATAP, Bauchi, The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sa’adiya Umar Farouk advsed them to put to good use, the knowledge acquired during the period of the training.
Represented by a Deputy Director in the Ministry, Gidado Abubakar, the Minister said that the Federal Government is committed to empowering the youths and other vulnerable Nigerians in order to bring them out of poverty as well as make them become employers of labor.
She added that all the participants in the training who successfully completed the course are expected to set themselves up with the starter packs given to them as well as the token amount considering the economic situation in the country.
One of the consultants who handled the hardware cluster of the training, Bashir Umar Tofa explained that out of 1,360 people who registered for the program, 771 turned, certified and trained after which they were given starter packs to begin working.
He explained that with the training they acquired, they will be able to handle installation, repairs and other services related to computer systems and Android devices anywhere in the country.
Tofa advised the beneficiaries to take the business seriously, engage other unemployed youths in their various areas in order to grow their businesses and at the same time empower others.
The N-Knowledge is a component of the N-Power Programme and is focused on equipping young Nigerians with relevant skills and certification to become competent workers, innovators and entrepreneurs prepared for both the domestic and global digital job market.
The N-Power (N-Knowledge) programme will upskill 20,000 young Nigerians (as captured in the 2020 appropriation) on the global radar as exporters of world- class services and content in the creative and information technology sectors.
The training component was targeted at developing competencies of the youths in software development and Hardware training which will be catalyzed as well as the groundwork to make Nigeria compete in the outsourcing market for software development.
It will also develop the skills and capacities along the skills set in the value chain of mobile apps and website development and start the talent development effort for the growth of information technology industry in Nigeria.
The programme is a centralized in-camp training for 3 months and a 6-month apprenticeship in the 6 geo-political zones with 24 training venues cut across the 6 geo-political zones for the 20,000 beneficiaries who will participate in the programme.
At the end of the programme, qualified trainees would be awarded their certificates and attestations just as the Trainees are introduced to different schedules that will definitely make them more informed and ready for the global competitions in the global market.
This is significant because the trainees will be introduced to Life-Skills and attitude re-orientation, work ethics and rules of engagement are also exposed to them.
