PlungeSmile, a nonprofit organisation of a financing system that caters to the educational and welfare needs of Nigerians, especially the youths is seeking the collaboration of government and other private oragnisations to scale the training and up the skills of Nigerians in digital technology.
PlungeSmile is the non-profit arm of Modiva Tech, a subsidiary of Reliance Infosystems.
Speaking last week in Lagos at the unveiling of career development programme in digital technology for fresh graduates, jobless and early career Nigerians, Archibong Edet, Coordinator of the programme, noted that while calling on young Nigerians to unlock their potential and enhance tech skills for free with Modivatech, it is expedient that the government partner to do more than what the foundation is presently doing.
“It will be nice if we have the support of the government and other organisations to scale and achieve more. So far, about 1500 people have been trained in Nigeria, Ghana, Botswana and Kenya,” he said.
He explained that the support from the government should be in terms of policies that can support what the foundation is already. Such policies, according to him is the building of Information and Communications Technology centres that will help entrepreneurs to scale after receiving the training being offered by PlungeSmile.
“Government should actually invest in building Information and Communications Technology centres in helping entrepreneurs,” he added.
Edet believes that government can do so by partnering with organisations such as PlungeSmile that are already in the business for years upskilling talents, whether those that are yet to get into professional or professionals.
“Government needs to partner with us to expand the training centres and other resources to be able to accommodate more Nigerians. Also, from the government standpoint, what is also needed is not the training, not just funding or partnership for training, there has to be an adoption programme,” he added.
Meanwhile, Andy Eberechukwu Akukwe, Vice President of Start-Up Ecosystem for Reliance Infosystems Group, stated that PlungeSmile has identified technology as a field of study that will optimally improve the economy of Nigerians and Nigeria as a country.
He disclosed that PlungeSmile as a foundation has a pool of students who are actually aided and people who are not actually students who are aided for free actually to equip them with digital skills.
PlungeSmile Foundation has actually impacted society in ways of education, technology and nutrition as part of Corporate Social Responsibility and a giveback scheme from us. We are using these programmes as avenues to tell the world about PlungeSmile.
“In the last two years, we have trained a lot of people who indicate interest in the programme with a minimum requirement of having a Laptop and access to the internet, which some do not have,” he told Journalists on the sideline.
According to him, the training model is online, but the foundation also encourages people to self-train.