The Friends of Nigeria (FON), a non-governmental organisation, is set to train over 1000 Nigerian youths in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in advanced digital skills to enhance their competitiveness in the global marketplace.
In a statement on Sunday, the organisation said the plan forms part of its ambitious target to train 30 million youths by the year 2030.
It added that the initial training of 1,000 youths is expected to run for two to three years.
According to the statement, the initiative is part of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed alongside the unveiling and rebranding Nigeria initiative (URNI) on diaspora-supported computer literacy digital skills programme in Abuja.
John Okoro, co-founder of FON, said the partnership is beyond traditional diaspora contributions.
“We want to take it a complete quarter further to also be those working actively with partners on the ground towards Nigeria’s progress,” Okoro said.
“We’re very pleased to have a visionary organisation that is not about talking but about doing, about inspiring change, and leading that change.”
He said the digital skills programme will encompass areas like artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain technology.
“The borders do not exist any longer for digital skills. Our vision is to have our youths attract global opportunities, empowering them to make better decisions towards the progress of their community,” he said.
Obiageri Ndulue, URNI lead strategist, described the partnership as a crucial step in translating Nigeria’s human potential into tangible results.
“We want to see how we can translate us from low cost to very high cost. We started out as a group of young people who wanted to be the travellers, to go get knowledge and come back to equip the team inwards,” Ndulue said.
“We want our accolades to come from the lives that will be changed.”
Ndulue described the initial training plan as a seed that would be nurtured and grown into tangible results.
She said the FON has donated 38 laptops to support the programme.
