the Federal Government distributed laptops to some selected public school students to promote skills and training of Nigerian youths.
Ms Abiola Arogundade, Senior Specia
By Emmanuel Mogbede
The Federal Government distributed laptops to some selected public school students to promote skills and training of Nigerian youths.
Ms Abiola Arogundade, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Technical, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Education made this known in Abuja.
She spoke at a ceremony organised by her office in collaboration with Afrifone Nigeria Limited to present 50 Laptops to some deserving Junior Secondary School students of Government Secondary School, Tundun Wada, Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Afrifone Nigeria Limited is Nigeria’s first assembling plant for mobile devices and tablets, incorporated in 2016.
Arogundade said the initiative was part of President Bola Tinubu’s mandate to promote skills training among the up-coming generation of Nigerians.
“The president had at the beginning of this administration, mandated relevant Federal Government agencies, including my office, to train five million Nigerians annually in diverse skills.
“Not only to make them employable, but also enable them to be self-employed after graduation. It is one of the pillars of the administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
“Today’s donation, therefore, is to empower the students to develop their technical and vocational skills in line with that presidential mandate.
“It is the second in a series, which we began last July, aimed at stimulating innovation in technical, vocational and entrepreneurship education among the youths,” she said.
Arogundade said the overall objective was to change our education system from high percentage theory to high percentage practical to remain competitive in the fast changing global technology-based economy.
She explained that her office decided to start with carefully selected Junior Secondary School students to encourage high performance.
She charged the benefiting students to use the opportunity to advance their future towards becoming self reliance, saying those who were yet to benefit, would benefit some other time as the programme would continue.
Also speaking, Ms Judith Okafor, Afrifone Limited Human Resources Manager said her organisation was dedicated to empowering youths and driving the country’s technological advancement.
“Today, I am thrilled to announce our participation in President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda,
“A visionary initiative aimed at fostering skills development and entrepreneurship among Nigerian youth.
“As part of this partnership, Afrifone Ltd will be empowering some talented technical students with our state-of-the-art Afrifone Tablets.
“Which function as mini laptops, providing these young minds with the tools they need to thrive in the digital age,” she said.
She added that Afrifone Ltd was not just providing hardware, but could offer comprehensive technical and skill acquisition training to equip youths with the knowledge and expertise.
She said the goal was to position Nigeria as a technological hub across the world after conducting an assessment especially in government schools where there were short supplies of laptops.
“We believe that by nurturing these skills, we are laying the foundation for a new generation of Nigerian tech entrepreneurs and industry leaders.
“Our partnership with the Federal Government aligns perfectly with our company’s vision of a technologically empowered Nigeria.
“By combining government’s reach and resources with Afrifone’s technological expertise and training capabilities, we will be creating a powerful synergy that will drive real change in our society.
“This initiative is just the beginning. We at Afrifone Ltd see it as a stepping stone towards a broader goal of technological self-reliance for Nigeria,” Okafor said.
She called on other private sector players to join in the noble cause to create more opportunities for our youth, drive innovation, and position Nigeria as a technological powerhouse in Africa and beyond.
Mr Abiodun Ogunshaki, the school principal in his address of welcome, emplored the students to always do the right thing where ever they fund themselves.
He assured that no matter the country’s challenges, there was hope at the end of the tunnel.
He said for government to achieve the desired results, all hands must be on deck to take the country to greater heights, stressing that government alone could not do it.
“We thank you very much for this your noble contribution,with this, we see hope at the end of the horizon,” Ogunshaki said.(NAN)
