Not fewer than five thousand Nigerians would gain from a digital upskilling programme being made possible by a partnership between the Federal Government and the Microsoft Corporation.
Additionally, locations in each of the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria would like lively internet connection and cloud services courtesy of this electronic transformation plan.
According to a statement issued by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Office of the Vice President, Mr Laolu Akande, the Buhari administration is partnering with the technology giant to accelerate Nigeria’s certain advance towards a more digital market in line with the Economic Sustainability Plan.
For instance, last January, the Vice President had a virtual meeting using Smith, where discussions covered areas of intersection between technology and governance to improve Nigeria’s digital transformation.
Talking in a movie statement of the partnership with the technology giant, Prof. Osinbajo stated”our government is committed to leveraging technology and innovation to bring improved outcomes across a wide area of governance issues. Really, it is with this in mind that we have hunted constructive partnerships that bridge the understanding, skills and technology gap that exist in the majority of our communities”
According to the VP, “this launching is indicative of our commitment to this and will involve cooperation with various government agencies as implementing partners, such as the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy, the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Nigerian Institute of Cultural Orientation, along with various other local partners. We intend that these initiatives become institutions in their own rights and make a true impact in the lives of our citizens going forward.”
Read Also: The country’s oil and gas resources being developed via joint partnerships
On the centre regions of the venture, Prof. Osinbajo stated”this partnership will focus on two pillars: Connectivity & Skilling, and Digital Transformation.”
He said”we plan to connect under-served communities at each of the six geo-political zones with access to cloud and internet services. This job is a critical part of our goal of expanding broadband connectivity, which is by itself, a major pillar of our Economic Sustainability Plan in response to this Covid-19 pandemic.
“Working with Microsoft, we mean to upskill 5 thousand Nigerians via this increased internet access during the next three years in numerous electronic skills that can improve both employability and entrepreneurship.
“The multiplier effect will bring opportunities in rural and urban areas to a lot of young people and will help us deal with unemployment problems made worse with the pandemic”, he explained.
Using digital tools beneath the undertaking, the Vice President said”we will pioneer innovative approaches in the struggle against corruption, a significant priority of this administration.”
Continuing, the Vice President said, “leveraging Microsoft’s Technology tools that can be deployed to minimise governance dangers and block loopholes, working together with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), we’ll seek to utilize cutting edge analytical and case management tools to plug holes within our public sector system as well as confront white-collar criminality effectively.
“This column will also function as a vital social function. Using Microsoft’s Artificial Intelligence technology and tools to preserve and promote our important languages so we can revitalize these important areas of our civilization.
“Our attention is obviously the Nigerian men and women. With over 80 million regular internet users, there is no question which Nigerians have fully embraced technology, the internet and their various uses,” that the Vice President added.
On his part, the President of Microsoft Corporation, Mr Brad Smith said the”we believe in the future of Nigeria and we are enthusiastic as a company to add to our investments. It’s a country we’ve had the chance to get to know better over the past couple of years.”
According to Smith” in 2018 we partnered with Tek specialists to make a Client Support Centre, a centre in Lagos that employs over 1,600 people. And we had another opportunity to broaden our investment much more by creating our African Development Centre.
“A centre that, by the end of this year, will use over 200 applications engineers and developers, individuals who are creating engineering and Microsoft products to serve not only the people of Nigeria but the people of the world.
“Each of them is providing us with the kind of confidence to want to spend even more. And one of the things that we have recognized as a company is that they need to develop with communities and countries rather than just buying for ourselves”, he said.
On the brand new partnership with the Federal Government, Mr Smith said: “We are embarking on a series of broad-based, very multifaceted investments to better serve Nigeria in three regions of online connectivity, digital skilling and electronic transformation. We’ll be supplying digital abilities to 5 million Nigerians over the next 3 years, and across the way, creating 27,000 new jobs during precisely the same period.”
