The Minister of Communications, Mr Adebayo Shittu, has lamented the widening gap in skilled manpower in the information communication technology (ICT) sector in the country. He said expatriates have virtually taken over the tech space in the country.
Shittu, who spoke at the inauguration of an Implementation Committee on the proposed ICT University of Nigeria, in Abuja, said it has become imperative to have the university to leapfrog the country into a digital economy.
The Committee has six weeks to submit its report so that the university can begin academic activities in the next session.
Headed by the former Executive Secretary of the National University Commission (NUC), Prof Julius Okojie, the minister said the six campuses of the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI) located in the six geo-political zones of the country would serve as the university campuses.
He said the Federal Government has already secured the endorsement of Facebook, Glo, Huawie, Cisco, MTN, Motorola, Ericsson, Siemens, Apple and Samsung among others to turn the campuses to specialised institutes for the ICT University.
He said the establishment of the university has become imperative considering the urgent needs to bridge the gap in the ICT-related sectors of the economy, regretting that expatriates are having a field day in Nigeria in the absence of indigenous professionals and skilled-graduates.
“The DiBI, when transformed into the ICT University, will provide fit-for-purpose curricular to cater for university graduates with specialisation in various ICT fields and expertise. This will create employment opportunities for Nigerians both locally, within the West-African sub-region and even at the international level, aside from several opportunities that would be created for self-employment,” the minister said.
