By Ijeoma Olorunfemi
Abuja – The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has trained 100 women in the South-West geo-political zone on Information Communication Technology skills to consolidate plans of the Federal Government to create jobs.
Mr Kashifu Inuwa, the Director-General of the agency made the disclosure in a statement issued and signed by Mrs Hadiza Umar, Head, Cooperate Affairs and External Relations of the organisation on Friday in Abuja.
Umar said Inuwa was represented by Dr Vincent Olatunji, Director, e-Government Development and Regulation Department of the agency at the capacity building training.
The director-general said the training would also close the gender digital divide, promote job creation, financial inclusion and provide women with the skills to participate in the digital economy.
He said the empowerment programme, which took place between Dec. 8 and Dec. 13, was aimed at leveraging on digital economy for national development at the Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti.
The key objectives of the programme, he said include: boosting digital literacy, creating digital jobs, bridging the digital divide, promoting digital inclusion and using technology to address gender imbalance in economic opportunities.
“The programme is part of the agency’s continuous efforts aimed at implementing the administration’s key priorities of economic diversification, job creation, investing in Nigerians and achieving gender balance in economic opportunities.
“It is also part of NITDA’s strategy toward the realisation of Mr President’s promise to take 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in the next 10 years.
“We should know that women clearly have unequal access to economic opportunities in comparison to men and NITDA believes that technology can bridge the gap.
“The 100 women being trained are projected to create 300 direct jobs and over 1,000 indirect jobs,’’ Inuwa said.
He recalled that the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), Federal Government programme, focused on restoring growth, developing human capacity and building a globally competitive economy.
According to him, meaningful growth can take place when citizens’ development is prioritised through increased social inclusion, creating jobs and improving the human capital base of the economy.
Inuwa, who noted that statistics showed that women’s participation in ICT was less than 24 per cent, pledged the commitment of the agency to increase the percentage.
Mrs Bisi Fayemi, Wife of Governor of the state, in a statement, commended the state government for promoting gender issues.
These she noted include women empowerment and promulgation of laws that could tackle socio-cultural and economic impediments against women.
Fayemi said that steps in the right direction needed to be taken for Nigeria to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda of 2030,which include industrialisation and developing human capital.
“Technology has a lot of benefit and women in developing nations have a large proportion of illiteracy in the digital world.
“This programme can make women active in the world of ICT and enable equal access to innovative ICT concepts,” she said.
