The Skill-Novation Programme was inaugurated on Friday by the Federal Government and Wema Bank’s ALAT to give over three million Nigerians the fundamental digital skills they need to prosper in the global economy.
The Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Communications, Stanley Nkwocha, revealed this in a statement on Friday. “The program will establish 15 state-of-the-art ICT centers, strategically placed across Nigeria, to provide individuals and businesses alike with access to cutting-edge digital training, resources, and support,” the statement read.
A statement titled “Over 3M MSMEs to benefit as Nigeria launches FG/ALAT Skill-Novation” claims that the program’s initial phase will concentrate on the states of Katsina, Anambra, Borno, Lagos, Oyo, and Kano.
The states of Delta, Kaduna, Ogun, Bauchi, Kwara, and Ekiti would be included in the second phase.
This is done in an effort to assist the information technology revolution, which would then broaden the scope of social and economic connections and boost Nigeria’s productivity growth, according to Nkwocha.
The FGN-ALAT Digital Skill-Novation Programme, which will empower one million Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises nationally, will be launched on Friday, 11 days after the WEMA Bank and the Office of the Vice President announced they had finalized the necessary procedures.
Vice President Kashim Shettima spoke at the program’s debut on Friday at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa in Abuja. He called the program a “transformative initiative” that “ushers in a new era of digital empowerment for” Nigerians.
We are forced to follow this route because of the way the world has evolved—a world of disruptive technology that has been reimagined by the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
This effort, which acknowledges that digital skills have become the key to economic progress and convenience, is a response to how the modern corporate environment has changed.
The Vice President made a suggestion that the meeting is the first of many to come and that it is an opportunity to reaffirm to the country that President Bola Tinubu is committed to assisting small companies in all of Nigeria.
Shettima provided an explanation of how the program would help the nation, saying that “Nigeria, with its increasing MSME sector of close to 40 million, has the ability to drive business innovation outside Africa.
Therefore, the goal of the Skillnovation Program is to realize this enormous potential. The project aims to give our MSMEs the tools and knowledge they need to prosper and compete on a global scale.
No one, regardless of age, gender, or disability, will be excluded from the Skill-Novation Program, VP Shettima further informed Nigerians.
“No disadvantaged group will be unable to take advantage of this chance.
“Our youth, women, and persons with disabilities have found friends and allies and will be preferred in our proposed single-digit loan schemes for our valued MSMEs,” he said. “Talks with the Bank of Industry and other critical stakeholders and partners are already ongoing for this.”
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Temitola Adekunle-Johnson, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Job Creation and MSMEs, stressed the importance of the collaboration earlier in his welcome speech. He said that the government cannot solve all of the problems facing Nigerians on its own.
For his part, Wema Bank’s managing director, Mr. Moruf Oseni, praised Tinubu and Shettima’s commitment to empowering young Nigerians as he announced the opening of skills training centers in 17 states, starting with Lagos and Borno.
In the benefiting states, he claimed, the program will have a direct influence on two million adolescents and one million small businesses.
Bosun Tijjani, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, urged other corporate sectors to work more closely with the government to achieve the goals of job creation in his goodwill message.
The Deputy Governors of Borno, Umar Kadafur; Kaduna, Hadiza Balarabe; Anambra, Onyeka Ibezim; and Jigawa, Aminu Usman, among others, were also present at the event. Governor Ahmad Aliyu of Sokoto State, who was also in attendance, pledged the state government’s support for the program’s success.
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