The Nigerian government has singled out the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for doing a great job in the area of enhancing the digital skills of the Nigerian youths and implementation of various Information and Communication Technology skill acquisition programmes.
The Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, who gave the applauds during the inauguration of a Digital Nigeria Centre (DNC) in Ilesa, Osun State recently, also commended the NCC for timely and thorough implementation of the Digital Nigeria Centre project, saying he was confident that the project will promote the connection of public secondary schools to broadband internet in Ilesa community and ultimately equip beneficiaries with 21st century skills.
Aregbesola, who represented President Muhamadu Buhari at the event, noted that Digital Nigeria Centre project will promote the connection of public secondary schools to broadband internet in Ilesa community and ultimately equip beneficiaries with 21st century skills.
“I would like to thank my very good friend and brother, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami, for assenting to our request to have the first of this remodeled project in Osun State sited in Ilesa. I will also like to thank the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta and the entire Management and staff of NCC and the USPF, as well as their technical partners for a timely and successful completion of this laudable project,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Prof. Umar Danbatta has said all the regulatory activities, initiatives and programmes that the Commission had undertaken since 2019, in collaboration with its critical stakeholders, including its arm, the USPF, have been targeted at giving concrete expression to Nigeria’s deliberate policy to migrate to a full digital economy.
Danbatta, who was represented at the event by the Commission’s Director of Projects, Iyabode Solanke, added that the Commission achieves this by consistently committing itself to expansion of appropriate infrastructure to enhance digital literacy and skills in view of the economic and social impact of digitization on all sectors.
The NCC Chief Executive restated the Commission’s commitment to the overall objective of bridging the digital divide through the provision of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as well as broadband access to the unserved and underserved institutions and communities in the country.
Earlier, the Principal of Ijesa Muslim Grammar School, Ramota Ilesanmi, thanked the President Buhari-led Federal Government for the project, saying that it will go a long way in meeting the ICT needs of students and residents of the city.
The DNC, formerly known as School Knowledge Centre (SKC), is one of the projects in the Access Programme framework of the USPF, conceptualized to promote the availability and utilisation of ICT and resources of the Internet in teaching and learning in public schools in underserved, unserved and rural areas.
Specific objectives of DNC are to increase ICT literacy among school teachers and students; provide a platform for accessing online educational resources; equip students with ICT skills; facilitate ICT adoption in teaching and learning; as well as increase pass rate in Mathematics, English language and other science subjects.
