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NITDA Gives Laptops to Outstanding Learners of its Cohort 2 COURSERA Programme
Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE, the Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), has presented laptops to top ten learners of the cohort 2 NITDA-COURSERA Training Programme who were the first to successfully complete their professional certification.
The DG made the presentation during the November edition of the NITDA-COURSERA familiarisation webinar.
Represented by the Acting Director, Digital Literacy and Capacity Building Department, Dr Amina Sambo- Magaji, the Director-General congratulated the beneficiaries and commended them for surpassing expectations, creatively utilising the knowledge gained during the training and performing excellently.
Inuwa who noted that the promise of giving laptops as prizes to winners was to encourage healthy competition among the trainees for them to think outside the box and perform optimally in their respective areas of interest, especially as the outcome of the first batch of trainees wasn’t quite satisfactory, expressed satisfaction at the innovative ideas birthed by the learners.
“After our first batch, we realised that the competition rate was not very encouraging, so, we looked at different options, brainstormed on possible best option to increase the competition rate and one of them was the concept of giving the laptops which eventually paid off as there were timely and tangible results gotten from learners.”
“Also, we know that having a laptop will support you in actually using it as a tool for job, so, it was more of a double impact”, the DG stated.
The NITDA Boss reiterated the fact that the youthful population of the country remains one of the key competitive advantages over other nations and as such should be explored and exploited to achieve the Federal Government’s quest of making Nigeria the global talent hub.
“For us to be able to harness the potential of that competitive advantage we have in our youthful population, that is why we are undertaking a number of capacity building initiatives to make sure that Nigerians have access to the global on-demand skills”, Inuwa maintained.
According to Inuwa “most of the beneficiaries completed their professional certification in Cybersecurity, Data Analytics, and Digital Marketing”.
While presenting the laptops to the ten outstanding learners who completed their NITDA-Coursera courses, the DG encouraged them not to relent in their efforts to bridge the digital gap and come up with indigenous solutions that have global impact, adding that their expected contributions to the tech ecosystem will trigger the needed growth in the industry, the Nation’s digital economy as well as their general well-being.
Some of the beneficiaries who shared their success stories, thanked NITDA-Coursera for affording them the opportunity to learn on the platform.
They assured the organisers that they will most definitely use the transformative experience to impact on their chosen fields as well as contribute their quota by passing on the knowledge to others.
Earlier, Dr. Ahmad Yusuf Tambuwal, the Assistant Director, Digital Literacy and Capacity Building Department, NITDA, while giving an overview of the NITDA-COURSERA Scholarship Programme said Coursera is one of the world’s top online learning platforms hosting thousands of courses from some of the world’s best universities and tech companies.
According to Dr Tambuwal, “In its effort to achieve its One Million Developer and Skills target, NITDA established a 3-year learning partnership with Coursera with effect from 19 October 2022”, stressing that the partnership is designed to be implemented in six (6) Cohorts: (Cohort 1 – Cohort 6).
“Learners in each Cohort will receive full access Coursera licenses for self-learning and professional development over a six (6) months duration and every 6 months, at least 4000 learners are graduated from the programme while a new set of learners are onboarded and invited to join the platform”.
“NITDA organises monthly webinars to give learners direct access to Coursera and NITDA support teams, interaction and networking, Q&A, guest lectures etc.”, Tambuwal noted.
NITDA, he explained further, implements a license management policy to ensure full utilisation of available licenses.
“If a license is not being utilised, several reminder emails are sent to the learner, and if still not being used, it is eventually revoked & re-allocated”.
“So far, the first set of 4000 learners In Cohort 1 have already graduated, and Cohort 2 learners will be graduating at the end of December 2023”, Dr Tambuwal added.
The hybrid event which witnessed over 500 participants joining the webinar also featured a brief on how the NITDA-COURSERA platform works by the Coursera representative and host, Khaled Kokhon.
The NITDA-Cousera partnership is aimed at achieving some key objectives which include: empowering twenty-four thousand (24,000) Nigerians with digital & developer skills in 3 years, empowering Nigerian citizens with job-ready skills and create a large pool of IT talents for the local and global markets, fostering innovation and supporting start-ups with IT knowledge & skills needed to build real-life solutions.
It is worthy to also mention that since the start of Cohort 2 in June 2023, learners have spent over 10,000 hours learning on Coursera every month as July witnessed over 20,000 learning hours.
So far, 12,664 Courses have been completed by the learners since the programme started.
Federal government will toll all major roads in the country upon completion of construction and renovation because Nigerians are ready to pay for good roads once their safety and convenience are guaranteed, according to Dave Umahi, minister of Works.
Dave Umahi, minister of Works
“We have the Lagos-Ibadan (Expressway), we are completing it and we are tolling it,” Umahi said on Thursday in Abuja at an Inter-Ministerial Press Briefing, part of activities to mark Nigeria’s 64th independence anniversary.
He listed some of the roads as Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Second Niger Bridge, Abuja-Kano Road, and Makurdi-9th Mile, among others.
The former Ebonyi State governor said the tolling of federal roads “is going to bring a lot of money to the Federal Government”.
Umahi said private sector members have been engaged “to bring in funds, construct these roads, work with the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission and the Ministry of Works to toll these roads”.
The minister said the government would start with the Keffi-Makurdi Road that has been completed, stating that his ministry has been engaging with the Ministry of Finance for a paperless mode of payment.
He said, “For example, we are completing the Lagos-Ibadan, we are working on Makurdi to 9th Mile in Enugu State, we are working from Abuja to Lagos. These roads are going to be tolled. But we are not just tolling them, we are bringing confidence in the use of these roads.
“If people can travel at night because we are bringing security, where the response time will be 10 minutes on the entire corridor, where you have solar light permanently there and then reduce travel time, and through the tolling, the roads are maintained, then, there will be confidence because Nigerians will pay if the roads are good.”
He said before now, road developments have not been handled as investments but the administration of President Bola Tinubu has been handling road developments more professionally.
He said the present administration inherited a total of 300 damaged roads and bridges, adding that more road constructions would commence from October 1, 2024, across the six geopolitical zones of the country.
Afrinvest (West Africa) Limited (“Afrinvest”), a leading investment management holding company acting through its wholly owned subsidiary, Afrinvest Asset Management Limited, a fund manager licensed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has announced a strategic integration with Western Union, a global leader in money transfer services.
The integration, according to a statement, enables Nigerians in the diaspora to remit funds directly for financial investments through the Optimus by Afrinvest investment platform.
This integration, a first for Western Union with a partner company in Africa, enables Nigerians to remit funds from nearly every country worldwide for financial market investments in Nigeria without relying on family, friends or other intermediaries.
“We are thrilled to integrate with Western Union to bring this groundbreaking service to Nigerians in the diaspora. This integration aligns perfectly with our mission of simplifying investment, improving access to investment opportunities, and guiding people on how to create wealth.
“By providing a direct channel to remit funds for investment, we are making it easier for Nigerians in the U.S., U.K., Cameroon, Ghana, Canada or wherever Western Union operates worldwide to create wealth while participating in the growth of the Nigerian economy,” said Chief Executive of Afrinvest Group, Dr. Ike Chioke.
Ayodeji Ebo, Chief Business Officer of Optimus by Afrinvest, said, “We are excited to offer a robust, convenient, and secure platform for Nigerians to access a wide range of investment options that suit various risk appetites and nancial goals. Optilock, our high- yield investment plan returns as high as 20% and 7% per annum for the Naira and Dollar options, respectively.”
He said, “the Nigeria International Debt Fund offers investors with low to medium risk appetite access to longer term fixed-income securities like FGN Bonds, Corporate Bonds and selected money market instruments. Investors who opt for the Afrinvest Dollar Fund get access to Eurobonds and other dollar-denominated securities.”
PayU GPO has announced the appointment of Eze Ugochukwu as Country Manager in Nigeria. As part of PayU’s strategic investment and expansion in Nigeria, Ugochukwu’s appointment underscores our commitment to growth and innovation in the market.
Ugochukwu – who has extensive fintech experience spanning 17 years – has served as PayU’s Director/Product Manager in Nigeria for nearly a decade, leading in the conceptualization and development of customer centric solutions critical to the market.
PayU Africa CEO Karen Nadasen stated, “Nigeria is a pivotal and rapidly growing economy for the African region, offering immense opportunities for digital payments and e-commerce expansion.”
“Ugochukwu’s appointment is testament to our investment in this market, as his experience and leadership will mark an exciting era of digital technology driving wider financial inclusion.”
As Africa’s biggest e-commerce market, Nigeria is primed for greater growth, as consumer spending and revenue is set to continue in its rise, and along with it will be the growth of the payments industry in enabling convenient and seamless payments processing.
Beyond appointing a new Country Manager, PayU plans to hire 10 developers in Nigeria to boost local tech capabilities within the country and drive growth and innovation.
Further, the online payment service provider plans to enhance local infrastructure to reduce data costs, and boost technology and talent as part of its long-term investment in the country.
“At PayU, we are dedicated to broadening our local services and capabilities and strengthening our foothold in Africa. We remain steadfast in our mission to offer the best in efficient alternative payment methods that cater to the needs of consumers in each market,” Nadasen added.
PayU prides itself in having local expertise with a global reach, offering seamless online payments services in over 50 emerging markets.
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