The Federal Government, in partnership with WEMA Bank, has concluded arrangements to train two million youths on digital skills.
The Director of Information, Office of the Vice President, Mr Olusola Abiola, made this known in a statement on Monday in Abuja.
He said the training is in furtherance of the Federal Government’s pledge to support the job creation agenda of the Tinubu administration.
“WEMA Bank, in partnership with the Office of the Vice President, has concluded arrangements to commence an initiative that will impact two million youths and one million Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) across the country.”
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He said that the Managing Director of the bank, Mr Moruf Oseni, during a courtesy visit to the Vice President, Kashim Shettima, presented an update report to him on the programme.
“The delegation was at the Villa to brief the Vice President on the progress made in the implementation of the FGN-ALAT Digital Skill-Novation Programme, which is an initiative of a partnership between government and the bank.
“This is with a view to training two million youths and empowering one million Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) across Nigeria.”
Shettima lauded the commitment and partnership of the bank for the initiative.
“I will call on you to be above board. You are a good organisation. I want to thank you most sincerely for your initiative and commitment, be rest assured that we will fulfill our own part of the bargain.”
In an interview with State House correspondents, the bank’s MD, Oseni, said they were at the Presidential Villa to brief Shettima on how far they have gone on the FGN/ALAT project.
“Vice President was very happy, and shortly you will hear from his office of how we want to progress with this programme, part of this is to help create innovation hubs across the country for us,” Oseni said.
“Mr president came out with a very bold and audacious plan on how to revive the Nigerian economy. The banks are a key player and we will put in our best to actualize this.
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“If Nigeria does well, the financial institutions will do well. Mr. President is 100 per cent on track and we are totally in support of his administration.”
Also, Mr Temitola Adekunle-Johnson, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Job Creation and MSMEs, said the significance of the collaboration cannot be overemphasised.
“There is power in partnership. Private sector and the public sector coming together can always do more for the people.
“Mr. President’s ‘Renewed Hope’ agenda cannot be achieved by the government or private sector alone as it requires all hands on deck.
“So, we dug deep into the private sector to see how they can actually play their own role. In the first instance, they agreed to partner with us on skills acquisition and in other aspects of the scheme that we plan to implement.”
The FGN/ALAT Digital Skill-Novation Programme will be formally launched by the Vice President on the 29th of September at the State House Banquet Hall, Abuja.
Also present at Monday’s meeting were Mr Tunde Mabawonko, Executive Director, WEMA Bank; Mr Bamidele Adefemi, Head of Federal Public Sector, and Mr Chioma Onuaguluchi, Regional Manager, Wema Bank, Abuja. (NAN)