Information and Communications Technology firm, Huawei Technologies Company Nigeria Limited, in collaboration with the Federal Government of Nigeria, closed out the training for 1,000 civil servants under the ICT for Change programme with an award ceremony.
The ceremony, which held at the International Conference Centre, Abuja, had in attendance Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Minister of Communications, Chinese ambassador, Vice President of Huawei Technologies, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Interior, and others.
The programme is an understanding between Nigeria and Huawei as part of the company’s corporate social responsibility initiatives aimed at supporting the automation of government processes in Nigeria. Its two phases include training 2,000 youths and 1,000 civil servants on core ICT capacity.
On October 25, 2018, Huawei signed the Memorandum of Understanding to proceed on the second phase of the training and started the programme on January 14, 2019. With 19 batches of civil servants, the programme was completed on June 28, having trained 935 workers from 101 ministries, departments and agencies.
At the closing ceremony, the SGF, Mr Boss Mustapha, expressed delight for the success of the programme.
Represented by the Permanent Secretary, General Services Office, Mr Olusegun Adekunle, the SGF stated, “On behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria, I wish to sincerely thank Huawei Technologies for this partnership in fulfilling their corporate social responsibility as a reputable global organisation. This gesture is highly commendable and we look forward to more of such programmes that seek to complement government’s commitment to deliver good governance.
“The ICT For Change programme has tremendously increased the knowledge of the participants in the areas of human capacity building in developing ICT trends, innovative ICT and building smart city, Internet of Things, trends and solutions, e-government, cloud technology, web design and maintenance, Microsoft Word training and software-defined-networking,” he added.
The SGF also stated that the programmes were also in alignment with the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan (2017-2020), which seeks to enhance the capacities of MDAs in their performance and delivery systems.
The Minister of Communications, Dr Isa Pantami, expressed appreciation to Huawei for its continuous partnership with Nigeria.
He stated, “Capacity building is critical to achieving digitisation in the country and Huawei Technologies, through this training, is contributing significantly to the mandate of the present administration to drive a fully digital government ecosystem.”
According to the minister, trainings like this, which improve digitisation, also significantly contribute to poverty alleviation in the country, which is a core mandate of the present administration.
Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Nigeria, Mr Zhou Pinhjian, acknowledged the essential role civil servants play in the effective running of government.
“With the spread and application of ICT in our society, civil servants everywhere are confronting more and more ICT-related challenges in formulating and implementing policies.
“I wish to express my sincere appreciation to the Office of the SGF for its deep trust in Huawei, an integral part of Nigeria’s ICT ecosystem and a leading ICT giant in the world which we, Chinese, are very proud of. The efforts made by the OSGF, in partnership with Huawei to enhance ICT training,are highly commendable, as capacity building is one of the eight major initiatives announced at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Beijing Summit last September,” he added.
The envoy promised a good working relationship between both countries.
“China remains committed to enhancing exchanges and cooperation between competent authorities of China and Nigeria, sharing good practice in each other’s ICT development, seizing the opportunity presented by the digital economy in encouraging companies to carry out cooperation in ICT infrastructure, Internet and digital economy, and working together to narrow the digital divide and promote the building of an information society in Nigeria and China,” he said.
Huawei Technologies Vice President, Mr Chen Zhijun, stated,“In Nigeria, the ICT has played a crucial role in providing the requisite tools that support the diversification of the economy. ICT has contributed over 10 per cent to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product. Further, the World Economic Forum predicts that by 2025, some 1.9 million jobs and $20bn in additional GDP will accrue to Nigeria as technology continues to offer people new opportunities to engage in online platform work and transition from informal to formal jobs.
“The ICT for Change programme is part of Huawei Nigeria’s efforts in skill transfer and talent fostering. At Huawei, we believe that people are the most important and valuable asset. Investment in people is investment in future. Huawei Nigeria is determined and committed to walking this journey with Nigerians to boost availability, accessibility and affordability of ICT services to turn digital inclusion into social and economic inclusion, with our vision and mission to bring digital life to every person, home and organisation for a fully connected and intelligent world.”
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