Olajide, Oyo federal lawmaker, boosts digital literacy, upskills 200 Ibadan youths
Driven by the mission to create employment opportunities and boost the digital economy of Oyo State and beyond, Dhikrullahi Adedeji Olajide, Member representing Ibadan North-West/South-West Federal Constituency in Oyo State, has organised a 10-day digital training and empowerment for 200 youths and women in the Federal Constituency.
Driven by the mission to create employment opportunities and boost the digital economy of Oyo State and beyond, Dhikrullahi Adedeji Olajide, Member representing Ibadan North-West/South-West Federal Constituency in Oyo State, has organised a 10-day digital training and empowerment for 200 youths and women in the Federal Constituency.
Olajide, who is the Chairman, House of Representatives’ Committee on Information, Communication, Technology and Cybersecurity, said the digital training and empowerment were meant to teach digital literacy and empower youths and women with the prerequisite knowledge required to compete favourably in the world of digital marketing and economy.
Olajide, popularly known as Odidiomo, who spoke in Ibadan at the empowerment and training of 200 youths in digital marketing, cybersecurity basics, remote work, and technology-enabled entrepreneurship, noted that digital literacy is a veritable tool to shape the future of the Nigerian youths and to build a society that is ready for the future.
For Odidiomo, a man who believes in teaching youths how to fish rather than giving them fish, empowerment goes way beyond handing out peanuts or giving motorcycles or ordinary work tools to artisans.
True empowerment, according to him, lies chiefly in training and imparting skills that can shape the future and get youths ready for that future. This belief underpinned his facilitation of the 10-day training in collaboration with the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).
Speaking on the training, Eedris Faruk, the NITDA representative, explained that participants were equipped with skills in digital literacy, artificial intelligence, responsible platform use, and online business setup to enhance education, entrepreneurship, and employment opportunities.
At the end of the 10-day training, 200 Laptops as well as financial support were given to the beneficiaries of the training, with Olajide, who is aspiring to become Governor of Oyo State in 2027, noting that “the training is a call to action to youths to become innovators and contributors to the economy.”
He declared that his commitment to bridging digital divide and putting youths’ feet on the path to financial freedom had made him to organise training in ICT and digital literacy for 2,475 youths across the State over the years, while he also facilitated the construction of five digital training hubs across Ibadan, the Oyo State Capital, stating that “these steps were taken deliberately to build a future-ready society.”
Speaking further on the imperative of bridging the digital divide and repositioning the economy of Nigeria for the 21st-century world where technology is central to everything, Olajide expressed his pleasure that the Digital Economy and E-Governance Bill, which he sponsored at the House of Representatives, had reached an advanced stage, with a public hearing set to be conducted on the bill.
He called on Nigerians in the digital and technology ecosystem to come forward with ideas and recommendations that would help the country to build a robust and achievable legal framework for its digital future.
In his speech at the final day of the event, Odidiomo stressed the importance of training youths in digital skills and how such effort could bring the much-desired turnaround in the economy of the country, saying that he would never relent in commitment towards human capacity building in the area of ICT and digital technology.
He said, “Today marks not just the end of a training exercise, but the beginning of a new journey for over 200 young men and women who have been equipped with relevant digital skills to compete in Today’s evolving technology-driven world.
“This initiative was conceived as a practical response to the challenge of youth unemployment and the urgent need to bridge the digital divide.
“Beyond theoretical knowledge, the beneficiaries have been exposed to real-life applications in areas such as digital marketing, remote work and technology-enabled entrepreneurship, and they have been provided with laptops and financial support, which are not just tools, but a call to action for them to create, innovate and become contributors to the economy.”
Olajide’s words would ring a bell for those who know the importance of digital literacy, which, according to Enamul Haque, is not just about understanding technology but about empowering oneself to shape the future.
With the training and empowerment of over 200 youths, clearly, Olajide has taken a giant leap towards equipping an army of change makers, future entrepreneurs, innovators and shapers. He has shown governments, the political class and even well-meaning Nigerians the way to go with regard to lifting youths out of poverty and shaping the future of the Country.
Interestingly, Olajide is a frontline Governorship aspirant in Oyo State, and he has vowed to build a digital infrastructure that will underpin Oyo State’s transformation as a digital economic giant.
“What this means for the youths, for players in ICT and for residents of Oyo State is clear; a new wave of economic boom is on the horizon, and it will not come from dependence on petrol-dollars but on digital economy”, the lawmaker stated.
