UNITeS Academy Wins Top Awards at 2016 Cisco Safari

UNITeS Academy Foundation won big at the recently concluded 2016 Cisco West & Central Africa Safari Awards.

The awards took place on August 16, at  Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State. UNITeS Academy Foundation took home 3 top awards of the gala night which were– Best Gender Initiative Award, Best Academy Support Center (ASC) Award and Best IT Essentials Instructor Excellence Award.

The awards were given in recognition of UNITeS Academy producing the highest number of students in the Cisco Networking Academy Program in West & Central Africa.

The awards were also given in recognition of the Foundation’s dedication, commitment and support to Cisco’s gender initiatives. UNITeS Academy Foundation had a 90.8% growth in the number of female participants in its 2016 programs.

“The growing global demand for ICT skills has created a lot of opportunities for Nigerian youth especially the girl child. I commend Cisco Networking Academy for equipping people with ICT and entrepreneurial skills in order to make them more competitive in the global job market” said Mr Toyin Olatayo, executive director UNITeS Academy Foundation.

According to Olatayo “our goal is to bridge the digital gap in Nigeria by equipping youth with the right ICT skills for their personal development and that of the Nation and these awards are a testament of our commitment to achieving that goal.”

UNITeS Academy Foundation is passionate about promoting education and human development in Nigeria through Information and Communication Technology. The foundation seeks to create socio-economic opportunities for youth especially girls by equipping them with practical ICT skills, tech industry recognized certifications such as Cisco, infrastructural support to schools, teacher capacity building and the National ICT Champions’ Olympics Competition (NICO).

Mr Azeez Mohammed, an instructor with UNITeS Academy Foundation, who won the IT Essentials Instructor Excellence Award thanked God and Cisco for the award. “The road to this award was not easy but it was made possible through hardwork, love for my students and commitment to excellence in my work.”

The Cisco Safari is an annual event that is held across English West and Central Africa for Academy Instructors and ICT students to build knowledge, skill and network to learn about best practices in the tech industry.

This year’s Cisco Safari Conference had the theme: Internet of Things (IoT). Today, the Internet of Things encompasses more than 14 billion devices connected to the Internet, providing the technology foundation for IoT. IoT improves business outcomes through the intelligent networked connections among people, processes, data, and things/devices. This global phenomenon creates unprecedented economic opportunities to enhance productivity, sustainability and experiences.