The Managing Director/CE of the North East Development Commission (NEDC) Muhammad Alkali has disclosed that under his watch, the commission has deployed massive use of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to build capacity of the youth of the region to create digital jobs and reduce unemployment.
The NEDC boss told a press conference in Abuja on Thursday that it has become incumbent on the commission to rehabilitate and revamp the economy of the six states of the region that were battered by the Boko Haram insurgency. He noted that through a demand-driven policy the commission also focuses on mobilising the potential of the region for stability and development in agriculture, trade, commerce and industry.
He said “The ICT is what our youths like these days. When you go to any of the states, the first thing you see is youth lining up here and there and this may constitute a time bomb. And so we developed a plan to engage some of them who cannot go back to school. We looked at some of the youth whose education was disrupted having lost so many years, and we decided that we must give them something which they can do.
“And we thought that as a commission, providing them with vocational training on something they like doing will be fitting. Today, we have 18 ICT training centres in the north east -that is one in each senatorial district, where we train an average of 400 people per year.
“And once we train them, we give them kits to go and practice what they have learned. We took simple models and one of the models is for those who can repair handsets, another model is graphics design where people can sit down and do invitation cards and many other things.
“The models have worked and today we have many youth who have started their own entrepreneurship, training others and creating more employment. We are also training people in DSTV installation, metering and many others. This is so that people who cannot go to formal schools or go to vocational training centres, will have something better to do and that will reduce the number of jobless youths.”
Alkali, who applauded President Muhammadu Buhari for establishing the commission, stressed that the infrastructure and social intervention programme of the commission is demand -driven which places priority on rebuilding the massive agriculture belt of the region for food security.
He said further the NEDC Master Plan is comprehensive because its mandate captured other important sectors such as health, Science Technology and innovation, tourism and sports which will ensure that people are psychologically at peace.
He added that the commission has come to complement the efforts of the governments of the six states of the region (Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe) as well as work with development partners both local and international to source for external funding for the enormous activities of the commission.
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