Olamide Babatunde
In a bid to tackle unemployment, Enugu State government has unveiled plans to empower its youths with digital skills.
Recognizing the impact of technology and digitization, which is fast becoming the new currencies in the world, the state government has set up the Enugu Youth Empowerment Scheme (e-YES). This is an initiative aimed at accelerating the future success of youths living in the state by offering digital skills training .
The scheme is an initiative of the Enugu Small Medium Enterprise Centre, under the Enugu Human Capital Development Loan Programme.
It was disclosed that thousands of youths are expected to be trained in dvertising, digital marketing, internet promotion SMS marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), PPC, and Analytics. Others skills in the scheme include: Mobile advertising, Email Marketing and content marketing.
The scheme, according to the government, is open to all youthe and jobseekers that have interest in acquiring digital skills. The programme provides the participants training loans, certificates and jobs with private sector to repay the loans.
“On completion of the training, participants will be placed on jobs, and within an agreed number of months are obligated to pay back the cost of the training through their respective salaries. This way, they can not only contribute to the economic development of Enugu State and Nigeria at large, but funds can be recycled to train other youths, the Enugu SME Centre said.
As part of his critical human development projects, Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi declared: “Our commitment in developing human capital and ensuring that businesses thrive is reflected in our World Bank ease of doing business ranking, which moved from 27th to 3rd”.
In line with his principal, Arinze Chilo- Offiah, Special Adviser, SME Development at Enugu SME Centre, added that, “Human capital development is important in improving and enhancing the quality of life of the people as well as the private sector ecosystem”.
Explaining the rationale for the training-for-jobs scheme, Chilo-Offiah said that they were high-income skills that would enable trained youths to thrive in today’s digital world, become innovative entrepreneurs and strategic valuable assets to Enugu State and the international community.
According to him: “Technology will continue to drive change in the workplace, and for one to be a game changer, one must be able to use technology to solve everyday problems. With this initiative, the Enugu SME Centre is giving the youth an edge”.
However, to ensure the anticipated result, Enugu SME Center has engaged certified and experienced trainers with affiliation to the Digital Marketing Institute of Ireland; a globally recognized digital training body, to equip the youths with the gainful digital skills.
Speaking on their readiness to deliver quality, one of the trainers, Abasiama Idaresit, who is CEO, Wild Fusion Digital Centre, noted that the outfit has an international certification and validation to deliver quality digital marketing training and job placement for the participants of the programme.
“We have trained over 4,000 students since 2014, who are gainfully employed and delivering value to their employers”, Idaresit explained.
He stated: “Participants will be provided jobs in the private sector and also to provide service for MSMEs, startups and other such businesses across Nigeria and the globe. Being that we live in a digital age,
it is easy for someone to provide service for a company irrespective of geographical location and earn foreign exchange while still residing in Enugu. This initiative will leverage this as well”.