Omobola Johnson, the communications technology minister, has assured Nigerians they will begin to enjoy the benefits of the ministry’s initiatives.
Speaking at the launch of a job creation training workshop tagged ‘Microwork for Job Creation- Naijacloud’, Johnson said: “Nigerians will this year and next year, begin to benefit from the many initiatives embarked upon by the Ministry of Communications Technology.”
HumanIPO reported earlier this month the Naijacloud project, which aims to tackle unemployment by utilising the country’s ICT skills through Microwork and e-Lancing, had been launched.
According to her, the ministry did not have a budget in 2011 when it was established and it had to wait till 2012 before it could begin to rolling out some of its initiatives after budgetary allocation was made.
She said: “Since November 2012, we’ve launched several initiatives and what you are seeing today is the output of those initiatives. We are very concerned about improving service quality, we are creating more jobs in the lower and higher skill levels, and we have put a lot of government services online.
“Although the initial output had been very encouraging, in 2013 and 2014, Nigerians will begin to see the actual result of our initiatives.”
Concerning the Microwork scheme, she said the aim of the scheme is to create more jobs for Nigerian youths. She said in addition to the training sessions in Lagos and Abuja, other parts of the federation will also benefit from the programme.
Johnson added: “The Lagos and Abuja workshop is the first session out of about seven more sessions. It is a platform that will provide jobs for Nigerian youths and enable them [to] earn money, but the opportunity to earn more money depends on the ability of the individual.
“It is a tremendous opportunity to create jobs without creating a physical industry. People can sit at the comfort of their homes, and with their internet connected laptop, they could transact business that will earn them good money.”
