Use your ICT skills for nation building – Bello charges Abuja Youth

Stories by Stanley Onyekwere

FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello has charged graduands of the recently concluded United Nation’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)/FCTA YouthMobile Information and Communication Technology (ICT) project in the Territory to use the skills they have acquired for nation building.
The Minister gave this during the graduation ceremony for 400 participants of the UNESCO/FCTA YouthMobile project, drawn mainly from Abuja Municipal and Bwari Area Councils of the FCT.
Bello who was represented at the occasion by the FCTA Permanent Secretary, Mr. Christian Ohaa, said the next phase has been scheduled for Gwagwalada town and will involve 600 participants covering the southern axis of the FCT, namely; Kuje, Kwali, Abaji, and Gwagwalada Area Councils.
He said the FCT Administration has committed over N96.7 Million by way of counterpart funding to match UNESCO’s support of N42Million.
The Minister while congratulating the participants, urged them to justify the investment of both the global community and the home government towards the realization of their full potentials by starting their own businesses where necessary.
Bello said beneficiaries have been given skills required to excel, adding that government and the larger society expect them to translate these skills to increased productivity and employment.
“The importance of knowledge, they say, is not in having it, but in using it. Similarly, “to whom much is given, much is expected.
“I therefore urge you all to leverage the skills you have acquired for self-actualization and for nation-building.
“Let this serve as a clarion call for you all to live up to this dream and to brace up to the challenges of starting off your own businesses where necessary as well as being the torch-bearers of change,”according to a statement by Chief Press Secretary o FCT Minister, Cosmas Uzodinma.
In his remarks, the Director and Representative of UNESCO Regional Office in Abuja, Yao Ydo said the spirit of the education and cultural arm of the world body is to engage and partner with young women and men, in promoting peace, preventing violent extremism and engaging them meaningfully.
He said the youth stand at the heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adding that UNESCO is working across the board to support them not as beneficiaries but as leaders, playing vital roles at local, national and global levels.