In a bid to give Nigerian students global exposure and opportunities that would allow them compete with their global peers, global technology company, Huawei recently hosted a one-day campus talk and job fair at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
The job fair gives the students an opportunity to interact directly with the organization and to prepare them for their future careers in Information and Communications Technology.
Speaking to the press at the one day event, Kenneth Igwe, Huawei Channel Training Manager (ICT Talent Ecosystem Development) in Nigeria, disclosed that the essence of the event is to meet with students from the Huawei Authorized Information and Network Academy universities and related colleges (Huawei ICT Academy).
He said the visit will allow the Chinese company to interact with the students, then select the best among them through two evaluation process, test and interview for employment in Huawei and Huawei partners.
“The program completes the circle of the Huawei ICT talent ecosystem development, where Huawei trains and certify students, and then provide them with work and experience opportunities.”
Professor M.B Mu’Azu, Director, Institute of Computing and ICT and Head of Department, Computer Engineering at the Ahmadu Bello University, commended the visit of Huawei Technologies Company Nigeria Limited stating that the interaction with the organization will help boost confidence for the students who are preparing for the future in ICT. He also described the opportunity as one that points the students to the rewards for their hard work and diligence. He hoped this will not be the last but the first of many opportunities for Ahmadu Bello University students and Nigerian students generally.
Hamza Atabor, a student of Telecommunications and Electronic engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, said “I had a great experience from the job fair as it created some level of awareness about the ongoing technology trends in today’s society. It also made me understand the importance of building and developing a skill in today’s world.”
“I feel overwhelmed to be in an event organized by the tech giant Huawei, and with the opportunities that were open to me at that time. I realised that developing a skill in relation to ICT keeps you ahead in many aspects and gives you a better reason to hope and prepare for a better future.”
“this is my first time attending a job fair, and I must say this left a mark of excitement, hard work, commitment to talent acquisition, amongst many others to enable me prepare for the task that lies ahead for a better and brighter career in future. The job fair made me see the value in the little things I could do that I never thought would yield much. All I had to do was to keep learning so that it will not only be useful to me, but to the world. I would love to be a part of a good future, and with Huawei supporting me, I see a much better future ahead. Thank you.”
Amina Muhammad, another student of Telecommunications and Electronic engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, said “this job fair has a positive impact on my educational life and future career in the sense that it made me have hope on my dream of becoming a network engineer which motivated me to work harder and harder.”
Huawei Technologies Company Nigeria Limited has continuously positioned itself in Nigeria at the forefront of driving ICT skills development through knowledge transfer schemes and partnerships with universities and academic institutions. The organization recently celebrated the achievement of some Nigerian students for their remarkable performance (emerging among the top three winners competing with 49 other teams and a total of 147 students representing 30 countries) at the Huawei Global ICT Competition held in China, as well as launch and sign the MoU (between Huawei Technologies Company Nigeria Limited and National Information Technology Development Agency) for the participation of Nigeria in the 2019/2020 national ICT competition edition.
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Communications, M.F. Istifanus, represented by the Director of ICT, Federal Ministry of Communications, Dr. Moni Udoh, during the Huawei ICT Award Ceremony had recently applauded Huawei Technologies for an increased partnership with universities and colleges across Nigeria in the last twelve months which has resulted to “more than 55 MoUs signed with partners to be Huawei ICT Academies and giving more than 13,000 students opportunities to participate in the recently concluded Huawei 2018 – 2019 ICT Competition.”
“We appreciate the attention Huawei has paid to this program, by focusing not only on the students but also, building the skills and capacities of our Universities and lecturers. We strongly believe that the skills transferred through this programme will enhance the quality of our educational system and provide economic opportunities to individuals as well as the broader economic development of not only Nigeria but the whole of Africa.”
Addressing the press, the Director of Huawei Nigeria Enterprise Delivery Department, Melissa Chenyanfeng, said “this year marks the 20th Year of Huawei operating in Nigeria. Huawei through our many CSR programs aims to reach many lives in Nigeria, especially the education sector. We also have the Seeds for the future Program, where we send 10 students to China for 2 weeks, all expenses covered by Huawei, which we have done for the past 2 years.”
“Huawei will continue to invest in collaboration with universities and continuously supply excellent candidates to Huawei’s ICT talent eco-system. Huawei’s vision in Nigeria is to create an ICT talent Ecosystem that will form the foundation in the digitalization plan for the nearest future.”
The Huawei job fair and campus talk team was made up of 8 interviewers led by the Director of Human Resource, Huawei Nigeria Enterprise Business Department, Ms. Zheng kunkun, who said that “Huawei places a great emphasis on selecting the best Nigerian Students with Huawei Certificates through the job fair program. So far, after 2 rounds of interviews, there are over 20 candidates who have passed the first screening, among whom 10 are expected to get an offer for industrial training, NYSC placement, among other opportunities”.
“This campus talk and job fair held at Ahmadu Bello University is just the beginning, we are planning to do the same with other universities, such as University of Lagos, University of Ibadan, etc.” Ms. Kunkun added.