Abuja – The Minister of Communication Mr Adebayo Shittu, says training of teenage girls in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) will go a long way to make Nigeria ICT hub in African sub-region.
Shittu made this known on Monday during the opening of a three-day ICT Camp for Teenage Girls in Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
Represented by Mrs Moni Udoh, Director of ICT in the ministry, the minister said that empowerment of girl-child in ICT would translate to empowerment of the nation.
“President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration is determined to empower girls and other Nigerian youths in programmes that are capable of growing the nation.
“We support the Girls’ ICT Camp so that female teenagers can be empowered adequately to grow the sector and by extension grow the economy.
“Our nation’s ICT sector is one of the fastest growing sectors, an indicator that we are on track to participate in global digital economy.
“ICT training does not limit your chances to pursue other careers, so, I encourage you to focus more on Internet for analysis.
“The ICT sector currently employs more than any other sector in the country, I urge you to take the camp seriously in enhancing national development.
“We support the organisers of this training and will continue to work with such groups for the growth of the nation as the present administration is bent on diversifying the economy.”
Earlier, Princess Iphie, Publisher of Noble Teens Magazine, an organiser of the training, said that the measure was part of the initiatives to empower girls in ICT.
“Girls should be well encouraged in ICT so that they can easily pursue smart careers and fit into the digital market.
“Nigerian girls are interested in ICT and they should be empowered to take their destiny in their hands through training and other basic supports.
“If you train a girl, you have trained a nation, and that is why we have decided to train 200 teenage girls from both primary and secondary schools in the FCT.
“It is our belief that it will go a long way in propelling the nation to global greatness in ICT and we thank the minister for identifying with us on this noble cause.”
Iphie explained that the girls would be trained on coding and computer programming for self reliance.
The camp, which has the theme: “Expanding horizons and Changing attitudes’’ begins on June to June 15.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that participants at the event were drawn from both public and private secondary schools in the territory.
NAN also reports that Microsoft, HP Computers, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Indomie Noodles, among others sponsored the event. (NAN)
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