Youths have been urged to explore opportunities in digital space by United Nations Children Fund, UNICEF in partnership with National Orientation Agency, NOA.
The UNICEF Programmes Officer, Joannes Yimbesalu, who made this known in Lagos at a 2-day ‘Media Dialogue’ organised by UNICEF in collaboration with Lagos State Directorate of National Orientation Agency, NOA, stressed the need for youth empowerment through digital space for neccessary supports towards achieving their potentials in life.
Yimbesalu also urged the media to assist the youths to attract government attention for policy makers to take necessary steps in solving the issue of unemployment across the country.
“We see a lot of resilience from young people. They are very creative and they and very innovative. There is need to empower these youths by giving them the neccessary supports, both financial and capacity development and ensure that whatever they are doing, they are productive,” he said.
On its part, NOA Director in Lagos, Mrs Adetola Adegboyega advised youths to abstain from vices that are capable of jeopardising their future, charging them to explore digital platforms productively and stay focus in life.
“Our youths should be focused and know that there are opportunities here. There are many opportunities for them on the digital space. Social media is not necessarily for internet scam known as Yahoo Yahoo. There are better things that youths can do online and make legitimate income,” noted Adegboyega.
Also, Taiye Tunkarimu, Head of Communication, Stakeholder Management and Promotions, Lagos State Employment Trust Fund, highlighted the activities of the agency towards addressing unemployment.
He mentioned that its major aim is to create employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for Lagos residents through access to finance, vocational skills training, innovation and market simulation.
Furthermore, Director, Policy, Planning, Research and Statistics, Lagos State Ministry of Education Dr. Afoabi Adejare, pushed for parents to allow their children and wards to engage positively in online digital learning platforms such as, Nigeria Learning Platform, Eko Digital, Eko Excel, among others to enhance their knowledge.
Some of the participants, Adedeji Ibraheem Adewumi, Biojela Zainab Afolashade and Akpoborie Emmanuel Oreva, expressed their joy, as they said it will serve as a reach out to their peers, as they generally called on the government to tackle unemployment by supporting young persons with knowledge and facilities that would enable them thrive and become successful in Nigeria.
UNICEF Communication Officer, Blessing Ejiofor said the event was aimed at galvanizing the media to support advocacy on digital learning solutions with a focus on bridging the digital divide, especially for girls and young people in hard-to-reach communities.
She noted that UNICEF has collaborated with government and other partners in creating enabling environment for skills development that would enable young people to thrive and be able to respond to the country’s social and economic needs.
Ejiofor noted that the deployment of the Nigeria Learning Passport, NLP, an online, offline and mobile digital learning platform that supports learning and skills acquisition for Children and youths as well as the Youth Agency Marketplace (YOMA) platform are avenues to skill as well as connect young people to opportunities for employment, entrepreneurship and social impact.
The event brought young persons and selected journalists together to interact, learn and to build their capacity to raise awareness of the benefits and opportunities youths can gain on various digital platforms.
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