Federal Government, yesterday, lauded Google’s N1.2 billion grant initiative to facilitate the one million jobs scheme of the President Bola Tinubu administration.
Vice President Kashim Shettima spoke, when he received in audience some executives of Google – a leading global technology company, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
According to Shettima, the announcement of the grant to support government’s digital jobs initiative was commendable and worthy of emulation by other companies.
“Let’s think outside the box and create more job opportunities. We need to walk the talk. It is easy to pontificate but very difficult to bring all the ideas to fruition. I want to assure you, this administration is ready to partner with you. “Nigeria is ready for business. The President that we have now wants to leave a legacy that Nigerians will be proud of, many years after,” Shettima said.
Speaking about the potential of Nigeria’s young population, Shettima said: “We have a unique opportunity to harness the potentials of our huge youth population to create millions of jobs in the digital sector.”
We have more English-speaking people than many countries in Africa and beyond. We missed the agricultural age, we missed the industrial age, and we are now in the knowledge-driven post-industrial age. We have the potential and a unique opportunity to fill the anticipated global talent deficit.”
Earlier in his remarks, Director of Google West Africa, Mr. Olumide Balogun, said the company was excited about the administration’s vision of creating one million digital jobs and was committing over N1.2 billion in grants to support the initiative.
On his part, Google Africa’s Director of Government Relations and Public Policy, Mr. Charles Murito, said the company remains committed to investing in digital infrastructure across Africa, noting that digital transformation in the continent can drive the targeted technology jobs.
This came as Kaduna State government, in collaboration with Google, announced an initiative to train 5,000 women and girls in data science, artificial intelligence, and entrepreneurial application of digital technologies.
The initiative, according to Google, is part of a broader skills development programme supported by Google.org, which aims to empower 20,000 more women and young people across Nigeria with 21st-century skills, positioning them for opportunities in digital and creative industries.
THEGUARDIAN
