At least 15,000 women are targeted to receive training in digital literacy, safety, and hygiene to address the widening digital gap between Northern Nigeria and the rest of the country in a rapidly changing world.
The Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) said the training has become imperative, given that the northern region is lagging behind in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector, without which no meaningful development can be achieved.
CITAD Executive Director, Y. Z. Yau, represented by Isa Garba, said the initiative was designed to narrow the digital divide in a world increasingly driven by information and communication technology.
“Businesses dealing in ICT on a single street in Lagos are more than the entire ICT businesses in Kano, for example. While those in Lagos have reached their destination, we are just beginning our journey in ICT. This informed our resolve to train 15,000 women in digital literacy to bridge the digital divide,” he said.
Yau noted that women must be empowered with digital skills to improve the socio-economic wellbeing of citizens, with multiplier effects across all aspects of human life.
Fatima Babakura, Project Manager of the Digital Literacy Training Programme, said about 5,000 women and girls between the ages of 16 and 40 would be trained in digital entrepreneurship to explore business and income opportunities in the digital space.
“We also intend to prepare women against online harassment and cyberattacks, so they can return to their communities and share the knowledge acquired. We are also training students on Computer-Based Tests (CBT) because we realised that many fail examinations due to a lack of digital skills,” Babakura said.
Director of ICT at the Kano State Secondary Schools Management Board, Isyaku Garba, said the board had deliberately designed programmes to equip students with ICT knowledge to enable them compete globally.
He said Lagos had achieved over 60 per cent ICT infrastructure utilisation as far back as 2006, with a large number of women already equipped with ICT knowledge.
The director added that women with digital skills can work remotely, even from their homes, thereby reducing the financial burden on their spouses.
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