The leading multinational computer technology firm Microsoft plans to train five million Nigerian youths in Information Technology, artificial intelligence and other skills.
Microsoft’s Country Manager for Nigeria and Ghana, Mrs Ola Williams, made the disclosure during a dinner organised by Art of Technology (AOT) Lagos 4.0 with a theme: “Talent Acceleration and a Smarter Lagos.”
During the event, where several people were given Awards and or cash gifts, Williams said Microsoft signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the federal government of Nigeria to train and empower young Nigerians with digital skills. These skills, she said, are a nationwide programme that would enable the participants to be actively involved in the digital economy.
Read also: Microsoft Strengthens its Partnership with the African Development Bank
Why Microsoft will select more Youths from Lagos than other states
As regards the bulk of selected youths coming from Lagos, the Country Manager said the large population of the state informed the choice of shortlisting more youths from the mega city. She emphasised that no part of the nation would be sidelined from the training because trainers have been pooled from every part of the country.
Williams stated, “Aside from the training, we are also in partnership with the federal government to provide airbag technology and provide people with Internet connectivity so that those who live in the rural areas would have access to the Internet and would be able to participate in the training.
“We are working with the federal government to ensure that every youth takes part in the training. We are going to the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory(FCT).
“The MoU we signed with AOT, is basically to work with the Lagos State Government to digitalize the state and provide access to different technologies, artificial intelligence and empower Lagos State government employees with the right to modernize their working environment, also to ensure securing all their digital technology in the state, in line with the state Government aspiration to make it a digital state”.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Special Adviser to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Science and Technology, Mr Olatunbosun Alake, said the meeting was all about AOT 4.0, one of the ecosystem bridges between policymakers and the ecosystem talents.
According to her, “In 2019, when our administration came into being, we thought it was important to lay focus on science and technology. Hence my office was created and named Innovation and Technology. Since then, we have been trying to build bridges with ecosystems and cooperate with so many solutions across all sectors.
“During that time, AOT was one of the places where values were traded. From AOT 4.0, we got the Lagos State Science and Technology Master Plan, which has seven pillars, such as infrastructure, talent, funding, advocacy and communication, policy, data access, and many more. We have been debating for the past two days about one of the pillars called “talent,” which is the foundation for all other pillars because, without talent, the ecosystem will not be able to produce value.
“My focus is on what areas to explore with the ecosystem talents and how to reverse the “Japa” syndrome, and sadly, three out of five ICT experts in Nigeria are either planning to leave or have already left. We want to reverse the trend of “Japa,” and how do we regain our ecosystem to encourage talents from leaving? That is why we are giving awards to those who leverage on the talents we have in Lagos and those entities creating value in Nigeria and outside Nigeria.”
Winners of Eko Innovation Centre Share Experience
One of the lucky winners in the competition by Eko Innovation Centre, Jane Ekeh, commended the administration, stating how impressed she is with what the Lagos State Government and the founder of the organization were doing to support the startups and bring talented youths out of joblessness. She said, “Lagos and Eko Innovation Centre are doing wonderfully well.”
According to Ekeh, “with the memorandum of understanding signed today by the state and Microsoft, the sky will not be their limit but a stepping stone and pacesetter. I am happy because many people are going to be pulled out of poverty.
“Lagos is a pacesetter, and I know that other states will soon key into the program. I would like the FG and other states to emulate the Lagos State Government and begin to pull people out of ignorance and poverty and begin to embrace digital training.
“I want to advise the youths to keep trying and put themselves in competition; they may not know what will come out of it.” Today, my team is happy with the award given to us. I’d like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the Eko Innovation Center for “bringing us into the spotlight.”
Another winner, Adedeni, whose team went home with N5 million reward, also praised the Lagos State Government and Eko Innovation Centre for their contributions to the society.”
According to Adedeni, “Our company is interested in training teachers. We want to change the narrative. We want to discourage students from cramming but encourage them to be more critical and technical in handling issues.
“We organize programs for students after school and during the holidays. It will take time to get it right in Nigeria, but we have to start. We use different concepts, including music, with our students. We discovered that training 500 teachers, who will then train other teachers and students, is the most effective way to impact students’ knowledge from school to school.”
This Adedeni said will go a long way toward training thousands of people.