From Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
Beneficiaries of the ongoing skills acquisition programme of Imo State Government are extremely grateful to Governor Hope Uzodimma. The government did not just give them the opportunity to learn trades but also capped it with free lunch and stipends to cater for their transportation.
Like the biblical feeding of the multitude, Uzodimma is extending the gesture to 20,000 youths in the state willing to learn and make a living in the digital economy. According to the state commissioner for digital economy and e-government, Chimezie Amadi, who is the first to occupy that position newly created by the governor, the 20,000 participants will come in batches of 5,000 each.
The method of selecting the participants, according to the commissioner, is on first-come-first-served basis and it is open to everybody residing in the state who applies for it online as advertised.
Explaining why the ministry was created, Amadi said: “This is the first ministry of digital economy and e – government in the country and it was created in response to the federal government’s policy called Nigerian Ministry of Digital Planning, Policy and Strategy Plan (NMDPPSP).”
This plan, he said, has been proposed from 2020 to 2030. According to him, it is a ten-year plan focus on developing digital economy in Nigeria and designed to achieve three basic things. He said: “One is to usher in the diversification of the economy, which is hitherto dependent on oil. There becomes a need to diversified our economic base, not just from oil, but to stimulate growth from other sectors of the economy, looking at using technology and that gave rise to the digital economy.
“There is the issue of ensuring security in the entire nation and also ensuring sociocultural developments of the country. This is a policy designed by the federal government and in that policy sub nationals, which Imo is part of, were encouraged to streamline their operations and adopt the provisions of this policy.”
On the benefits of Imo State in this federal government’s 10-year digital economy policy, he said the state from the very point the ministry was created and he was appointed to head it, with the help of the governor, he wasted no time in setting the ball rolling.
According to him, one thing he had at the back of his mind was the gain and the vision is to make Imo the leading digital economy state in Nigeria. The other objective, he added, is to make Imo the digital skill hub of Africa.
And to achieve this goal, he further explained that they developed what is called Imo Digital Economy Agenda (IDEA), 2022 to 2026. The commissioner explained that the policy is hinged on six pillars.
He said: “We have pillar one, which we call digital literacy and skills. Pillar two we call the solid infrastructure. Pillar three is soft infrastructure. Pillar four is focused on advocacy. Pillar five is monetary and evaluation while the sixth pillar is about collaboration and partnership.
“That first pillar, digital literacy and skills, will focus on equipping Imo youths with the fourth industrial revolution and digital skills that will make them become players and contributors of the evolving digital economy which this government has placed very high premium on.”
Imo youths, he said, has benefitted from the programme since it started. “Imo youths have remained thankful for the enormous benefit they have derived. The first and the immediate impact it has on them is the idea of bringing into their consciousness the importance of technology in today’s world.
“Before now, some of these youths were seen as graduates or holders of masters degree. They read different courses in the university but they are not employed and they are not employable because they do not have the digital skill required in a digital era. So, we brought their consciousness to become digitally literate and acquiring digital skills,” he explained.
He added that a lot of them were already becoming self-employed on their own even before finishing their two weeks training. Some of them, especially those doing courses like phone repairs, graphic design, digital and marketing, are already having clients on their own.
“There are businesses in Owerri that have no digital presence or footprint and that is affecting their volume of sales they are making per day. Some of the task we gave them is to go out in the streets of Owerri, open some business accounts, open an Instagram page, Facebook page for small and medium scale businesses within Owerri and begin to manage their online presence, create opportunity for people to see the product and services they offer and then patronise them,” he volunteered.
Besides the free lunch and stipends given to the participants, they are also motivated with competitions on what they have learnt and the best class receives N50,000 cash prize.
Amadi also explained that they were receiving great assistance from technology gurus in the state such as Leo Stan Ekeh, the Zinox boss, and others.
One of the participants, John Paul, who expressed his joy for being part of the programme thanked the governor for his initiative. He said: ” It’s not easy to fund this kind of skills acquisition programme but the governor has done it. On our own part, after all the good gesture, we promise to replicate it to those outside.”
Another participant, Olusegun Ojo, said the training afforded him the opportunity to be self employed, as many clients now book appointment with him to do one or two things for them.