OXFAM Approves Siting of Bits Academy in Nasarawa
Igbawase Ukumba
The Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule on Human Capital Development, Habiba Balarabe Suleiman, has said that OXFAM has given approval for the siting of a Bits Academy in Nasarawa State.
Suleiman, who is also the focal person to the state Human Capital Development office, continued that the Bits Academy would run Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) specialties for unskilled youths of the state.
She disclosed this in Lafia at the flag-off event of the 2021 Employability and Entrepreneurship Programme and Job Fair for 100 youths of Nasarawa State organised by the state Human Capital Development office.
She added that the academy was designed to run a yearlong ICT programme for 100 unskilled youth in ICT on various ICT specialties that includes but not limited to Information Technology, Soft Ware and Network Engineering, Multimedia Arts, Digital Illustrations and Animation, and Graphic Arts.
According to the SSA, “It is worthy to note that Nigeria is one of the very few countries that have up to 3 Bits Academy sited.
“Nasarawa State due to the high level commitment and dedication it exhibited towards our partnership earned us a spot christened ‘NAS-BITS’ which is already approved by Governor Sule and will hopefully commence early next year.
“Another great programme in the pipeline for 2022 is the Technical Training for 200 youths in specialised Auto-Mechanical and Engineering courses in collaboration with Peugeot Automobile Nigeria (PAN), “she said.
She continued that the Employability and Entrepreneurship Programme was aimed at preparing Nasarawa youths to become fine executives in their own rights; in character and capacity.
“This collaboration between the Nasarawa State government and OXFAM Nigeria with Poise Graduate Finishing Academy is one that is essential and promises a lot in the future. You may recall that last year during the job fair, OXFAM announced its approval for an additional three years for the implementation of the Employability and Entrepreneurship Programme and Job Fair in Nasarawa State, the 3rd State in Nigeria to enjoy this privilege after Edo and Lagos States,”Habiba explained.
