By: Titus Akor, Makurdi.
The Wife of the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, on Tuesday commissioned the Renewed Hope Initiative/National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) Community Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Center at Ihugh, in Vandeikya Local Government Area of the State.
Senator Oluremi performed the Commissioning Ceremony and expressed delight at officially commissioning the National Information Technology Development Agency Community ICT Center in collaboration with the Renewable Initiative under Social Investment.
The First Lady commended the NITDA Director General, Malam Kashifu Inua Abdullahi, and his entire team for their impactful efforts in bridging the digital gap across the nation.
“Thank you for your collaboration with the renewable initiative in powering communities through technology.
According to her, the knowledge of ICT serves as a significant tool for empowering communities especially women enabling them to break new opportunities by equipping them with ICT Skills and enhance their education prospect paid in global economy support, adding that the initiative is in line with the renewed hope agenda of his excellence the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR to accelerate economic diversification through industrialization and digitalization of members of IHugh community to take full ownership of the center.
“The success of this center depends on your activation utilization of the resources available in the spirit of today’s event, the renewed hope initiative on our department school will present a 50-minute round grant to the state government first to support 2030 trade in the decade with the sum of 50,000, 000 naira, each to re capitalize their existing businesses and in addition another 50million which is a total of 100 million will be given to Makurdi and the environs to support another 1 000 in total.
“We’ll be empowering a total of 2 000 women with petty trading businesses at this juncture. I extend my appreciation to his excellency, the Governor of Benue State, Rev. Fr. Dr. Hyacinth Alia.
Earlier, the Director General and Chief Executive Officer of NITDA, Malam Kashifu Inua Abdullahi, expressed that the decision of the First Lady to bring the ICT project to Vandeikya is not a mistake but deliberately designed to bring the project to the Igbo community to elevate them and their community.
“Our mother has a deep passion for uplifting underserved communities across our nation. She refused to accept that communities or geography determines our destiny. She firmly believes that when an opportunity is given, every Nigerian tries to achieve their dreams.” He stressed.
“With this center, our farmers will be empowered with digital literacy so that they can use technology to control soil data, to monitor weather patterns, and to use it for precision farming.With technology, you can know when to seed, when to cultivate, and when to apply fertilizer. You can also monitor the health of your crops, and this is a physical manifestation of His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, Renew Hope Agenda. On assuming office, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, made it clear that economic diversification and inclusivity are paramount to his Renew Hope Agenda, and the President wants every community in Nigeria, no matter how far away from Abuja, to be part of the digital economy.” He said.
The Governor of the State, Rev. Fr. Dr. Hyacinth Alia, in his welcome address, said the facility is more than a building or a cluster of equipment. Nothing that it is a gateway to dignity, opportunity, and inclusion.
According to him, the Center will push these values forward and offer short technical courses designed to prepare youth for online work, freelancing, and local tech jobs.
“Beyond that, the NILA and IREC-I Community ICT Center will also engender e-learning and school support for students by providing connectivity and devices for students to access online curriculum and division resources.”
