Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah has said his administration would continue to train at least 40,000 youths across the state in digital and entrepreneurial skills that would enable them compete in the global digital and entrepreneurial markets.
He spoke at the weekend while delivering a keynote address at the Tech and Entrepreneurship (TxE) Summit in Enugu where he disclosed that the state government under him had begun the training of youths in digital innovation, programming, digital marketing, financial technology, entrepreneurship, among other requisite technology, financial and business skills.
Speaking on the theme of the summit, “Innovation Unleashed: Transforming Enugu’s Future”, Mbah said the strategic role of his government in enabling better and viable future for the youth operating in the state was to provide an environment full of opportunities for them to thrive.
He said measures were being put in place that would ignite the young ones to unleash the creative energy in them by embracing the emerging future of robotics, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, virtual reality, innovation through skills in information and technology.
The governor, who observed that the global order was rapidly moving away from analogue and anachronistic ways of doing things to a modern perspective enabled by technology, advised the youth to take the opportunity the TeX summit had afforded them to learn new ways of doing things in order to remain relevant and economically self-reliant in a competitive global sphere.
“We are talking about robotics, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, virtual reality, among other emerging skills today. These are perhaps skills that will keep you relevant in today’s world. Ours in Enugu State is to provide you with the right environment, the support and the skills,” he said.
While looking at the synergy between technology and entrepreneurship, the governor enjoined the youth to think creatively and come up with ideas of what to do to add value to the market by repositioning themselves to solve some of the needs of the society.
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According to him, the youth could create their own greener pasture in Nigeria without having to travel overseas with the right training and skills, which he said his government would facilitate by partnering tech industries.
“My objective here is to get you to begin to think digitally, to understand that the emerging future is the one that requires you to acquire a digital skill to thrive. And with those digital skills, you do not need to contemplate leaving this country. I know you may think that the pastures are greener in Europe and America, but that is not true. Anybody that told you that has perhaps lied to you. The innovation landscape here is not barren at all.
“With your innovation here, you are able to create a greener pasture right here on our soil than any other place in the world. See this event as a serious business where you have come to acquire a skill; a skill of a lifetime. A skill that will enable you to conquer the world right here in Enugu State,” Mbah said.
The Founder of TxE Africa, Williams Uche-Mbah, had said this year’s event represented the huge potential and promise that Enugu held for youths in the fields of technology and entrepreneurship.
He said the summit was conceived to ignite innovation, foster collaboration and empower the local entrepreneurial community of youths in the state to unleash a new wave of technological innovation, economic growth and a platform for the global market.
Uche-Mbah said youths embracing the right tech skills would escape from the scourge of unemployment and poverty, which was the aim of the summit.
“The objective of this summit is to create a platform to groom our youths in much needed tech and business skills to first decongest the rate of unemployment in Nigeria, and position you for global relevance. Our vision is to reach and empower one million people across Nigeria before 2027, and if you wonder how possible this is, look around you,” he said.