The Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodinma has revealed that no fewer than 300,000 youths in the state would be empowered through the government’s digital economy skills acquisition programme under the umbrella of the Skill-Up Imo Project.
According to the governor, who was addressing the first 5,000 beneficiaries of the youths that graduated from the Skill-Up Imo Acquisition Project, the training will be beneficial to the state and the country when the youths are fully digitally inclined.
In that regard, Uzodimma, at the ceremony, empowered the 5,000 graduates with various start-up kits, with 2,500 of them going home with a laptop each and other necessary tool needed in the course of advancement of their career.
He said: ‘When many of the youths must have acquired skills and being employed, it will bring an end to the activities of banditry, and unknown gunmen and, in fact, other social vices in Imo State and Nigeria in general.’
Earlier, Minister of communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, challenged Nigerian leaders to avail themselves of the opportunities of digital revolution to tackle the unemployment situation in the country, especially among the youths.
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While in his welcome address, Commissioner for Digital Economy and E-Government, Chimezie Amadi, thanked the governor for the Skill-Up initiative, insisting the graduation of 5,000 participants was the brain child of Governor Uzodimma whom, he said, encouraged his ministry to take responsibility and implement the project.
Amadi explained the programme is a subset of Imo Economic Agenda (2022-2026) which has the target of Up-Skilling Imo youths by providing free training and support to 300,000 of them in new innovation that would equip them to be productively employed or self-employed.
