By Goodluck Ikiebe
Nigeria has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and flag-off ceremony for the cyber security training, competition, certification and internship of Nigerian youths with Halogen Group with a view to offering them permanent job placements in the society.
Our Correspondent gathered that the deal will enable them to contribute meaningfully to the socio-economic development of the country.
The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr. Sunday Dare, while signing the Agreement in his office in Abuja, stated that the training programme was very significant and timely.
He said the development was more relevant,” especially as we have a growing population of youth ready to offer a wide pool of talents in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) that can be trained to utilize, develop and drive technological advancements for the betterment of our great nation.”
Represented by the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Alhaji Ismaila Abubakar, Dare added that the programme was coming at a time in our national life where government must provide the impetus towards empowering the Nigerian youth for self-reliance.
According to him, “The World Economic Forum, Cybersecurity along with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Data Analytics now offers great career opportunities to professionals.
“More stringent regulation will see an increased demand for cyber security professionals in Nigeria”,he noted.
The Minister observed that there was a need to leverage these skills in order to curb the unemployment rate among the teeming youths in Nigeria.
He explained that Nigeria’s National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy had identified Cyber Security as a crucial pillar in diversifying the country’s economy.
The Management of Halogen Security here present, he said, “will agree with me that the year 2021 was exciting in the cyber security space both locally and internationally.
” Cyber breaches and attacks were experienced in the economy’s public, private sectors.
“A significant trend was that no organisation appeared immune to cyber-attacks. Even institutions that had made significant investments in cyber security experienced high-profile attacks”,he explained.
The Minister assured that Cyber Security, training, Competition, Certification and Internship for Nigerian Youth is a programme of the Ministry, in collaboration with Halogen group which has carefully been developed to benefit as many young persons as possible .
He added that the training was aimed at engaging the youth on Cyber Security awareness,to mitigate against Cyber-attacks and also offer a range of certification programmes in Cyber Security that may offer permanent job placements both locally and internationally for participants.
Speaking earlier, the Chief Operating Officer, Halogen Group, Wale Adeagbo, stated that the cyber crimes had become a global concern of which the perpetrators are majorly identified among the youth principally because of lack of unemployment opportunities, which necessitate the partnership between the government and private sector with a view to promoting job opportunities for them.
Mr. Wale stated further that the purpose of the collaboration with the Ministry is to embark on training of youth on cyber security training, competition, certification and internship.
He thanked the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development and the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration in particular, for creating an enabling environment for the youth in the country to explore their potentials.
Edited by Dada Ahmed.
