Osinbajo welcomed the promotion of technological opportunities for youth
Nigerians thanked Vice President Yemi Osinbajo for his contribution to advancing technological opportunities for young Nigerians.
Global tech giants – Google Inc., HUAWEI and leading social networking companies, Facebook, Microsoft Corporation – have announced plans to partner with the federal government to benefit the Nigerian people, especially young people.
Vice President Osinbajo, who supported the initiative, in a virtual meeting with the Microsoft Corporation team led by its President Brad Smith, noted that the company’s commitment to supporting the efforts of the federal government is a positive development and can be used to solve problems affecting young people, especially for their productive engagement.
Prior to their last meeting, Vice President Osinbajo invited Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to Nigeria, culminating in Zuckerberg’s first trip to Sub-Saharan Africa when he arrived in Lagos, Nigeria in August 2016.
While in Nigeria, Zuckerberg traveled to Abuja to attend the Aso Villa Demo Day (AVDD) event hosted by the Nigerian federal government, and also visited the Co-Creation Center (CcHUB) and Andela where he met with entrepreneurs at City Hall. and developers in Lagos.
Zuckerberg’s visit to Nigeria paid off exactly a year later when Facebook launched its first African SME Council in Nigeria in October 2017 to support small and medium-sized businesses across Africa.
As such, the company selected 15 Nigerian entrepreneurs from various industries and regions in Nigeria to leverage the Facebook platform and provide them with digital tools to drive customer growth.
In November 2017, Facebook announced Nigeria’s initiatives to further drive innovation, skills development and economic impact across Nigeria.
Subsequently, in May 2018, NG_HUB was launched in Yaba, Lagos, as the learning aspect of Facebook’s Nigeria initiatives also pledged to train and support 50,000 students, SMEs and entrepreneurs across Nigeria through a series of digital skills trainings in collaboration with hubs across Nigeria …
Also in 2018, exactly in July, Vice President Osinbajo led a government delegation to the United States, where he visited Silicon Valley, considered the headquarters of some of the world’s major tech companies, where he met with Google CEO Sundar Pichai and others. top managers.
During the visit, Osinbajo met with investors and CEOs and demonstrated the progress made in the country’s technology, innovation and creativity, as well as the potential of the country’s technology sector, which has generated significant investor interest in Nigeria’s technology space. …
The vice president’s visit to Silicon Valley and the Facebook campus in 2018 helped bolster the digital activity of the federal government, while at the same time leading to a significant improvement in the country’s digital space.
It also helped launch Google’s free public Wi-Fi service in Abuja, an initiative expected to create more economic opportunity for Nigerians by closing social divide by providing free internet access, which will improve access to information and tools. education, opportunity and expansion for many Nigerians.
Nigerian tech entrepreneurs have also attracted millions of dollars in investment in recent years, and there has been a growing interest in the African continent’s tech space.
Likewise, Microsoft opened an engineering office in Nigeria, Google launched an acceleration program, and IBM launched Digital Nation Africa.
To help Nigerian women start and grow their businesses, Facebook also launched #SheMeansBusiness in March 2018. In early February of that year, Facebook partnered with more than 20 nongovernmental organizations across Africa to launch Internet Security Initiatives to raise awareness of emerging networking issues and explore ways to make the Internet safer for users.
In addition, in collaboration with African entertainment streaming platform Afrinolly, Facebook launched Facebook for Creators in July 2018, with plans to train 3,000 authors and 2,000 journalists across Nigeria on how to use Facebook products to showcase their work. , raise awareness and engage your online audience. The pilot program took place in August 2018 in Lagos.
Chinese billionaire Jack Ma has also visited Nigeria and is reportedly working on an investment project in Africa.
Following a visit by an FG delegation led by Osinbajo to Silicon Valley in 2018, Facebook’s plan to open an office in Lagos as an office in Nigeria will be the first on the continent to house a team of experienced engineers building the future. Africa and beyond.
The Lagos office, expected to be fully operational in 2021, will support all of Sub-Saharan Africa. According to Facebook, “the office will have a variety of teams serving the continent from across the company, including sales, partnerships, politics, communications and engineers.”
As a result of all these findings, a Nigerian who took to social media on Tuesday praised Osinbajo for welcoming the idea of digitalizing Nigeria, which is ultimately seen as a great opportunity. for young Nigerians to be involved profitably.
They also praised the tech giant for becoming a digital transformation pillar in the federal government’s Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP), which is also reportedly helping the tech company’s continued investment in Nigeria.
In general, respondents, expressing their opinion of Twitters, said: “Osinbajo did so much in the technological aspect, creating the prerequisites for this during the VP’s visit to Silicon Valley, where the deal was announced.” what appears today has been sealed.
Others, who also praised the tech giants’ latest move to expand their investments in Nigeria, pointed to Vice President Osinbajo’s resilience in pushing the youth agenda, which is now yielding results.
“Google has announced plans to create the first Google launch site outside the US in Lagos, Facebook has decided to open an office in Lagos, and HUAWEI has pledged to position Nigeria as a technology hub for the African continent. I, Osinbajo brings good luck to Nigeria, ”Thomas Blessing tweeted.
Another, who tweeted from his Twitter account, @bisuclef, praising Microsoft for his initiative, said, “#MicrosoftNaija promises some investment in fixing technical bugs in #Nigeria with VP Osinbajo’s new venture to ensure more benefits than in ICT in general ”.
In addition, a Nigerian who tweeted from his address, @ lollylarry1, wrote: “Vice President Yemi Osinbajo posed with tech gurus willing to invest in Nigeria. My Essential Osinbajo is always contributing to the development of the country, unlike the former vice president who posed as a cyber fraud guru and was also willing to use our money to enrich his friends.
Another, commenting via @CityMayo, said: “It seems to me that only Professor Yemi Osinbajo truly appreciates and understands the many job opportunities that come with the development of our digital economy. I think that’s why he’s at the forefront. in attracting most of the global digital marketing executives who come to Nigeria to invest. “
One of the tweets via @ Yakubu_Prince1 said, “Osinbajo has done a lot in terms of technology. One of the benefits of his visit to Silicon Valley is Microsoft’s partnership with FG. All this happens and becomes a reality, because #ESPisWorking #MicrosoftNaija “.
Likewise, another Twitter user who tweeted via @abegnovex said:
“On behalf of my natural born children and grateful Nigerian boys and girls, we would like to thank Vice President Yemi Osinbajo for bringing major technology companies such as Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Huawei and others to the country. God bless you, sir. “
Source: – Leadership ng
