Minister of Communication, Dr Abdur-Raheem Adebayo Shittu, said this during the weekend at the 2018 Nigeria ICT Talents Development Summit and Huawei ICT Competition Launch Ceremony organized by Huawei Technologies, a global leader in ICT solutions.
He commended Huawei Technologies for their commitment to promote Information and Communication Technology (ICT) ecosystem development in Nigeria.
He noted the summit was quite apt and in tune with the present stance of the current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari to leverage ICTs in all the sectors of the economy.
He said the Federal Government was committed and have strong strong belief in leveraging ICT to drive transparency in governance and improve the quality of cost-effectiveness of public service delivery in Nigeria as well as competitiveness.
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He said: “Technology, innovation and youth entrepreneurship cannot be ignored. While the government is committed to stimulating growth in the economy through wooing offshore investors, and providing softer pads for ease of doing business, the government also recognizes that investing in the country’s youth is a cardinal pathway to building sustainable growth.”
The Minister said he was glad that over 10,000 students from 15 universities all over the country were participating in the programme.
He added that over 8 universities have signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Huawei ICT Academy and over 60 students are now certified with one of them currently serving his one year mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Huawei here in Abuja.
Shittu said: “I have been informed that over 1,600 students participated in the ICT competition and one of the teams will be selected to South Africa to compete with students from other countries and an outstanding student will be chosen to China for the global ICT competition.”
The Commercial Counsellor of Chinese Embassy in Nigeria, Mr Zhao Linxiang, in his remarks at the event said a thriving ICT sector would bring Nigerian people millions of jobs vacancies with relatively high payment and a more convenient and modern lifestyle.
He said: “With the largest population and economy in Africa, Nigeria possesses enormous potential and advantages in developing ICT industry. Now, subject to the shortage of infrastructure and talents, the ICT market is still yet to be developed.
“Although there are more than 237 GSM users and 94 million mobile internet users in Nigeria, the broadband network only reaches less 1% Nigerian families,” he said.
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