The Cross River Government says it will leverage the Investments in Digital and Creative Enterprises (i-DICE) programme for more job creation and digital innovation.
The state’s Commissioner for Information, Mr Erasmus Ekpang, stated this in an interview with The Tide’s source in Calabar on Friday.
Ekpang said the i-DICE initiative presented great opportunities in digital innovation which the state could not take for granted.
He commended the Federal Government for the programme, describing it as a good omen to youth development and empowerment.
“Apart from job creation and vocational skills, this programme presents a huge opportunity for improvement in digital innovation.
“The programme is packaged to empower individuals in the digital and creative fields through skills development, infrastructure and access to financing”, he said.
The Commissioner said the Ministry of Human Capital and Entrepreneurial Development, created by Governor Bassey Otu will be advantageous in exploiting the gains of the programme.
The source reports that i-DICE is a Federal Government programme aimed at promoting investment in information and communications technology and creative industries.
It is part of efforts to build back better, greener, and more inclusively in support of the government’s agenda to create more and sustainable jobs.
The programme, valued at about 617 million dollars, is expected to benefit young Nigerian women and men of between 15 and 35 years of age.
It is also expected to benefit entrepreneurs, innovative early-stage technology-enabled ventures, and micro, small, and medium enterprises in the creative sector.

Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, has charged operators of the BayelsaPrime Project to intensify their focus on the monitoring and supervision of teachers to promote quality education in the state.
He also urged them to fashion out measures to ensure sustainability of the programme and adopt Output to Purpose Review (OPR) assessment of their performance.
The state’s number two, man who gave the charge when he received officials of the BayelsaPrime Project in Government House, Yenagoa, on Tuesday, commended the team for their efforts towards the development of the educational sector in Bayelsa State.
A statement issued by the Media Aide to the Deputy Governor, Mr. Doubara Atasi, quoted him as saying education is a priority for the prosperity administration, stressing that it is the desire of the State Government to see the programme succeed.
He said while the State Government wants the BayelsaPrime Project to outlive the incumbent administration, it is important for operators of the project to ensure that its impact is felt at all times in the educational sector of the state.
The Bayelsa number two citizen stressed the need for teachers in government-owned schools to be strictly monitored through a finger print method as they are crucial to the success of Bayelsa Prime and policy objectives of the present administration for the sector.
Underscoring the significant role of manpower in any organisation, the Deputy Governor noted that regardless of the level of technology involved in human activities, the importance of the human factor cannot be downplayed.
He urged the BayelsaPrime operators not to rest on the successes so far achieved but to pay attention to areas they need to improve upon, particularly in the supervision of teachers.
“We want to commend you for what you are doing. Education makes it easier for people to contribute to society and difficult for them to be manipulated.
“We do not wish the programme to end soon. However, we want sustainability. We want a situation whereby even if Bayelsa Prime ends today, it leaves lasting legacies in the educational sector.
“Sustainability is the hallmark of every programme. While we commend you for what you are doing we want you to make sure that it is sustainable and spreads across the entire State.
“I really want you to look at how we can monitor the teachers, that is a key area. Yes the students are doing good, are the teachers doing good as well? A person who is being supervised works differently from those not being supervised”, he said.
Earlier, Managing Director of BayelsaPrime, Mr. Linus Adaikwu, said the visit was to update the Deputy Governor on the progress the programme has recorded in some of the pilot public primary schools in four local government areas of the state.
He said BayelsaPrime has enhanced the reading capacity and literacy level of pupils as well as facilitated the enrollment of about forty thousand pulpils through its “Come Back To School Campaigns”.
Adaikwu added that efforts were underway to introduce the programme in the remaining local government areas of Southern Ijaw, Brass, Ekeremor and Nembe as well as secure international support for greater impact in the state.

By: Ariwera Ibibo-Howells, Yenagoa

The Onopa Community of Yenagoa Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, has lauded the State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, over ongoing developmental projects in the community.
Chairman, Community Development Committee (CDC) of the community, Comrade Igwe Evans, gave the commendations at the weekend while speaking with newsmen during a tour of ongoing projects in the community.
Onopa Community plays host to the Bayelsa State seat of power, Government House, Yenagoa.
The Tide reports that the state Secretariat complex and the newly acquired land by the State Government for the proposed New Yenagoa City where there are currently ongoing number of Government residential quarters, including the new House of Assembly and Commissioners’ housing estate is also located in Onopa Community.
The CDC boss, who also spoke on the rate of unemployment in the community, said amidst the ongoing urbanisation projects, government should also give “special consideration” to indigenes of the community during employment opportunities, saying there have not been commensurate employment given to members of the community upon playing host to the state’s seat of power.
“We want to thank the Governor for siting the ongoing New House of Assembly members and Commissioners’ estates in Onopa.
“We also wish to express our profound gratitude to the State Government for the new roads being constructed in the new Yenagoa city which is located mostly on our land.
“But we also want to ask that the Government give the Onopa Community ‘special consideration’ when giving out employment opportunities in the state. We’re the host community of the state Government House and a number of other Government projects. So, the Government should consider our plight during employment opportunities”, the CDC boss said.

By: Ariwera Ibibo-Howells, Yenagoa