Benue To Create Jobs With IT Project

BENUE state governor, Samuel Ortom has expressed the commitment of his government to create jobs for the teeming youths in the state, using ICT, in view of the dwindling oil revenue in the country.

He said that his government would establish Information Technology Development Agency, where the youths would be equipped with skills that would help them become self reliant.

The state government would also set up Yam factory and Soya beans processing plants to enable the state process its primary products, adding that the factories would be managed as Public Private Partnership (PPP) project.

Speaking when he paid a courtesy visit on the Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) in Abuja, the governor noted that ICT remains a tool for wealth creation, employment generation globally, adding that it would help in the creation of several other opportunities for Nigerians.

He said, government has no capacity to absorb and employ the teeming unemployed youths that are roaming the streets, hence, “ICT is one area we can use to equip them with skills.

They would be engaged and several good things will come out of them. The most important thing is to get people to begin to do something, so that on their own, they can generate some money for themselves. We are going to identify our people, who are on the streets to encourage them to do one thing or the other.

According to the governor, four centers had already been established in the state, promising that the project would be extended to all parts of the state.

“I was worried that when we went to U.S, what we saw were yams made in Ghana. We are already pushing for a yam processing plant in Kasina-Ala and more of that will come up during my tenure. Our emphasis is on industries, so that we can process our primary products. We have been exporting them without any value addition.

The biggest challenge in Nigeria is unemployment. Globally, it is the private sectors that create jobs, while government provides the enabling environment.

My government is providing an enabling environment for the private sector to thrive, because Government has been a colossal failure when it comes to commercial enterprises. ”.

The Director General of NITDA, Peter Jack, in his response, said that the agency was positioned to use IT in the transformation of the country, adding that the agency plans to deploy 200,000 solar kiosks meant to be Triangular Business model for communities to guarantee light from solar and wireless internet for 600,000 entrepreneurs and for the creation of 1.2million jobs.

He said ICT is currently presenting an opportunity for the creation of credible alternative to oil and gas in the area of software development and actual IT solutions, besides using IT for catalyzing economic growth across all sectors.   “