The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has flagged off the Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Support (TIES) scheme, as means to provide the Nigerian youths with the required digital skills and viable technology businesses to significantly contribute to job creation and economic prosperity in the country.
This is in furtherance to the delivery of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administrative ambitious policy of uplifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty.
The director general and CEO of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa, officially flagged off the TIES Scheme during a hybrid session that took place live at the Venture Park Hub in Abuja while other locations like Lagos, Port Harcourt, Katsina, Kano, and Enugu joined virtually.
Inuwa disclosed that NITDA had conceptualised and designed the TIES Scheme during the COVID-19 pandemic, as a capacity building programme targeted at addressing the digital skills gaps through trainings for hub managers, provision of incubation work to ensure massive creation of entrepreneurs and jobs within the ecosystem for young Nigerians.
“As an Agency, we noticed that most of the young talented people who have ideas lack mentorship. Innovative solutions are needed to tackle the problems in the country which NITDA is helping by creating the avenue that would provide a balance between the innovators and the markets,” he added.
The DG said, he was optimistic that the TIES Scheme would accelerate the prosperity of the country, while enabling NITDA on delivering the target of achieving 95 per cent digital literacy by the year 2030.
The chairman of the TIES committee Dr. Abdullahi Usman Gambo, however expressed his optimism about the success of the programme through the support of the industry partners, adding that, NITDA is expecting the partners to help achieve the target number of trainers within the stipulated time frame through the train-the-trainer method.
In the same vein, the general manager of Venture Park Hub, Mr. Jayeola Okuazun, in his remarks, expressed his gratitude to the federal government for bridging the gap for young talented entrepreneurs in Nigeria.
“Our mission is very clear, we are here to build the future of Africa and to be able to do that in my language we speak a lot of proverbs, there is one that says one hand cannot lift a load on one’s head”, indicating that collaborative measures between the federal government and the various Hubs would enhance the development of the nation,” Okuazun stated.