Devote Budget To Training Youths On Tech Skills – Expert

A tech firm, LearnWithPride Limited, has urged both states and Federal Government to devote a significant portion of their budgets to training youths on technological skills that would enable them secure international jobs.
Founder of LearnWith Pride, Mr Akin Oladeji, who argued that it was one of the ways by which Nigeria can reduce the unemployment gap, explained that an individual, well-skilled in technology, can get a job anywhere in the world while working from the country.
Speaking at the organisation’s 2024 Tech Summit, with the theme: “Breaking Barriers of Unemployment Through Tech”, in Lagos, Oladeji also urged business owners to leverage technology, noting that it is one way by which their businesses can acquire large visibility.
“Our programme focuses on youths, and what we realise is that people, irrespective of their age, think they cannot learn any new skill again. The fact is, one needs to unlearn to relearn.
“At the mention of tech, most people think it has to do with coding, and that is why the majority say they don’t want to transition to tech.
“One of the reasons we have this summit today is to bring awareness to people that acquiring tech skills is not about coding, it could be product management and others that don’t require any coding.
“After learning these skills, you won’t be focusing on your environment but other countries because the skills that you have acquired are useful all over the world. With these skills, you can be in Nigeria and apply for jobs  in the UK, Malta and Ireland among others”, Oladeji explained.
On why people should invest in acquiring tech skills, he said: “It is a good investment and nothing good comes free. No matter how much you are spending, you need to spend something.
“You can never get quality training for free, if you really want to invest in yourself and reap the rewards later on, then you should be ready to pay for it. It is an investment that can be beneficial in a short while.
“People need to start looking at the bigger picture. No matter what, some amount of money has to be invested, and you need to find a quality training organisation that is ready to hold you by the hand and walk you through the process.
“You need to invest something to get something. Whether you are a man or woman, the only thing required in the journey is determination”.
Oladeji, Chief Executive Officer of LearnWithPride, stated that he believed that some states could do better on youth empowerment, saying if they could get more money into the sector and train as many people as possible in lucrative tech training, they could secure good jobs.
“In tech, your location doesn’t matter. As long as you can be skilled up and you can defend what you know, you can get a job remotely. If government can invest money in quality training, not just training, then people will get good jobs irrespective of the location”, he concluded.