According to the Nigerian government, more than 550,000 applications from all around the nation have been submitted for the first round of its 3 million technical talent pool program.
This was disclosed to the State House Correspondent by Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, following the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting that took place at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
In addition, Dr. Tijani stated that the Nigerian government is working with governments like Cross River, Kwara, and Ogun governments to investigate the possibilities of sharing infrastructure in order to make it easier to provide the candidates with the training program.
He praised the wide range of submissions received, stating that this is a major factor in the government’s excitement for the initiative.
The Minister went on to say that under President Tinubu’s leadership, technology has grown to play a big role in how the nation carries out its obligations and improves public services, but that effective use of technology needs a trained workforce to power it.
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He went on to say that in order for Nigeria to fully benefit from technology, the nation needs a highly skilled labor force that can meet its goals.
As part of that plan, you may have seen that we launched a brand-new initiative known as the 3 million technical talent. With this program, we hope to train three million technical talent over the course of the next four years while also finding long-term employment solutions for them. Two weeks ago, this program was announced.
We are pleased to inform you, despite our initial goal of only receiving 30,000 applications, we have received over 550,000 applications from people all throughout the nation. I believe that another reason we are so enthusiastic about this program is the spread in the application.
The Minister added that there is a global talent shortage in the sector of technology and that technology is becoming more and more popular internationally.
“Under this government, technology is undoubtedly playing a significant role in how we operate and realign public services, but without the skills to effectively use it, technology remains a tool.
Therefore, in order for technology to really benefit Nigeria, we will need a highly skilled labor force to support our goals. However, the great thing about technology adoption worldwide is that there is a global talent and human shortage for it.
We have so had extensive discussions with many partner organizations as well as state governors. IHS, one of the regional infrastructure corporations, pledged N1 billion to the initiative last week in an announcement.
In order to be able to offer this candidate the training program, we have visited states like Cross River State and engaged with states like Kwara and Ogun. Our goal is to share part of the infrastructure with these states.
It’s crucial, in my opinion, to remember that this is more than just another exercise.
We therefore see this initiative as offering us the chance to grow our workforce both domestically and globally. Our goal is for our technologically literate youth to be able to work remotely for businesses anywhere in the world. And for that reason, we think that in the years to come, this initiative will significantly alter the game.
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