The new partners will work with the Senator Hope Uzodimma’s administration in Imo State to ensure that the state achieves its agenda of positioning Imo as the leading digital economy-driven state in the Federation by training 300,000 youths in the State in digital skills over the next years.

The new partnership will see NABTEB working with Imo State to ensure that the digital skills acquired by the 300,000 targeted youths in the skillUpImo project are effectively assessed and certified for sustainable wealth creation and economic self-reliance while the FRCN will ensure effective coverage and broadcast of the successes recorded on the project.

The foundation for NABTEB’s collaboration with Imo State government was laid during a recent working visit by its Registrar and Chief Executive, Prof. Ifeoma Abanihe, to the Hon. Commissioner for Digital Economy and E-Government, Imo State, Dr Chimezie Amadi in the latter’s office.

Abanihe, who was accompanied by NABTEB’s Coordinator in Imo State, Mrs Christianna Okey-Ogwumba, during the visit, extolled Amadi on his successes in communication and advocacy of the ministry’s mandates, especially as they relate to the digital empowerment of youths in the state.

“Having copiously read in the media, the efforts of the Imo State government at transforming Imo from an analogue to a digital economy, I came to see and verify for myself and I’m truly impressed,” Abanihe said.

During the visit, she also witnessed the massive work ongoing to equip Imolites with relevant digital skills towards making them relevant in the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR).

Highlighting that her coming was of dual purpose in addition to paying her solidarity to the outstanding performance, Abanihe proposed partnership and collaboration with the Ministry to ensure the digital skills acquired by the 300,000 teeming Imo youths in the SkillUpImo project are assessed and certified by NABTEB for sustainable wealth creation and economic self-reliance.

In the same vein, the Commissioner recently received in his office, the General Manager, FRCN, Heartland FM Owerri, Mr. kenechukwu Ndulewe Anyanwu, who promised to work with the State Government to create robust awareness of the good work being done by the state in the area of youth digital empowerment through its SkillUpImo Project.”

Since the commencement of your stewardship as Commissioner for Digital Economy and E-Government for Imo State, we, at FRCN, Heartland FM Owerri, have observed the vigour which you have exhibited and the milestones you have achieved in such a short time in carrying out the task of re-tooling the skills of the youths of the state through digitization.

“It is on this premise that we feel that there is a need for the success story so far recorded in the implementation of SkillUpImo State by our Ministry, to be spread all over the nooks and crannies of the state and beyond. As the broadcast network of choice, we are here to partner with you in this regard,” Anyanwu added.

Amadi, in his response to NABTEB, appreciated the Board for its kind gesture of developing a special and enhanced module for learners in the SkillUpImo project. He further pledged that the good works by the Senator Hope Uzodimma’s administration to place Imo State on the digital world map will be actualized.

“Also, there is an oasis in the desert. Something good is happening in Imo. We need the narrative of the stories told in Imo to reflect this great change, and partnership with you fits into the 4th and 6th cardinal pillars of our Imo Digital Economy Agenda (I.D.E.A) 2022-2026 policy thrust” Amadi told the FRCN team.

According to the Commissioner, the fourth pillar of I.D.E.A 2022-2026 focuses on ‘Advocacy’ while the sixth pillar is anchored on ‘Partnership and Collaboration’.

He said in keeping with the mission of the Ministry, partnership and collaboration with the private sector, corporate bodies, agencies among others, is salient in building smart cities, leveraging digital technologies to drive governance, innovation, entrepreneurship, value creation and prosperity for all.

Imo State Government, through the Ministry of Digital Economy and E-Government, has trained 5,000 youths in the Cohort 1 of the SkillUpImo project and has embarked on the training of an additional 15,000 youths in the ongoing Cohort 2 training.

What you should know about SkillupImo Project

By combining hard technical skills with soft employability skills, SkillupImo Project is grooming well-rounded professionals who can ply their trade at any level in the local and global digital economy.

It covers entry and advanced-level digital skills such as computer appreciation, device repairs and maintenance, content creation, web design and development, Internet of Things (IoT), Machine Learning (ML), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Data Analytics, Cybersecurity et cetera.

IT has, so far produced 5,000 beneficiaries in the first Cohort with 15,000 being targeted in the second Cohort until the 300,000 target of the project is achieved.

Following the successful graduation of 5,000 youths in Cohort 1 of Imo State’s youth digital empowerment and employment scheme dubbed: SkillUpImo Project, the State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma, is set to commence the second segment of the digital skills acquisition programme.

This is just as the State government is considering partnership with technology companies such as Cisco, Hauwei and Microsoft as well as the National Business and Technical Examination Board (NABTEB) for certification and value optimisation of the programme.

The continuation of the programme with the Cohort 2 is in keeping with the vision of making Imo State the leading digital economy hub of the nation and having delivered on the promises made on the flag-off of the first leg of the SkillUpImo Project under the direct implementation purview of the State’s Ministry of Digital Economy and E-Government.

The State Governor places high premium on the SkillUpImo project due to its potential of achieving the triple objectives of positioning Imo state as the digital skills hub of Africa, tackling youth unemployment as well as diversifying and building the state’s digital economy.

Already in the Cohort 2, 15,000 Imolites are now jostling for 10,000 slots at the ongoing enrolment, a reflection of the realisation of the success of the Cohort 1 training programme which have produced graduands, who are already monetizing their skills as techpreneurs while others have been linked to various employment opportunities.

Speaking in an interview, Dr. Chimezie Amadi, the Hon. Commissioner for Digital Economy and E-Government,  confirmed that Pre- Admission Assessment has been conducted for over 15, 000 prospective trainees who registered for the Digital skills training, which he said was oversubscribed.

“Unlike in Cohort 1, we had to conduct the pre-admission assessment to enable us to sieve the huge size of prospective trainees and ensure that only committed learners were admitted and enrolled in the right programme. We learnt a lot of lessons in the course of managing Cohort 1 and the introduction of Pre-admission assessment is one of the ways designed to improve our processes to meet the programme objective and achieve the intended outcome,” he Amadi said.

According to the Commissioner, going by the extent of work his Ministry had done with respect to process re-engineering, Cohort 2 promises an enhanced learning experience for both learner and instructors in the programme.

Explaingn further, Amadi said, “In Cohort 2, four additional learning centers  viz : Federal Polytechnic Nekede, Imo Polytechnic Omuma, University of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Umuagwo and K. O Mbadiwe University, Ideato, have been established to complement the existing learning centers at the Ministry of Digital Economy and E- Government headquarters. These existing learning centres are Imo State University, Alvan Ikoku College of Education, Polytechnic Nekede and Claretian University, all geared towards enhancing access to digital skills learning for Imo youths across the State.”

While stating that the training will cover various sheds of soft and hard digital skills, the Commissioner said his Ministry will be partnering with technology companies such as Cisco, Hauwei and Microsoft as well as the National Business and Technical Examination Board (NABTEB) for certification and value optimisation of the programme.

Ministry of Digital Economy and E-Government conducted Pre-admission assessment tests on the March 23, 2023 and had commenced issuing admission letters online from March 28, 2023 to successful candidates. Also, onboarding of admitted students is to be carried out on March 29, 2023 at the various designated centres while the Orientation Programme will hold online on the March 31, 2023.

The SkillUpImo Project is rooted in the First Pillar of the Imo Digital Economy Agenda (I.D.E.A) 2022-2026 on Digital Literacy and Skills with the objective of positioning Imo as Africa’s Skills Hub through massive training of 300,000 Imolites in new innovative and industry 4.0 skillset that equips them to be productively employed or self-employed in a digitally evolving world.