FG SIGNS MoU WITH HALOGEN TO TRAIN YOUTH ON CYBER SECURITY

The Federal Government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and flag off ceremony for the cyber security training, competition, certification and internship of Nigerian youth with Halogen Group with a view to offering them permanent job placements in the society so as 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 today, stated that the training programme is very significant and timely, 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, Alh. Ismaila Abubakar, Dare added that the programme is 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 cybersecurity professionals in Nigeria”.

The Minister observed that there is a need to leverage these skills in order to curb the unemployment rate among the teeming youth in Nigeria.

He explained that Nigeria’s National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy has identified Cybersecurity as a crucial pillar in diversifying the country’s economy.

The Management of Halogen Security here present, he said, “will agree with me that year 2021 was exciting in the cybersecurity 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 cybersecurity experienced high-profile attacks”.

The Minister stated further that it was noted in the Nigeria Cyber Outlook 2021 that there would be a spotlight on Nigeria’s cyberspace, and attackers would have more tools, skills, and ground to play. Also, “overall spending on technology has been earmarked to increase by more than 50 percent between 2015 and 2030. About half would be on information-technology services”.

The number of people employed in these occupations, he emphasized, will be significant and they will benefit from promise of their occupations being high-wage occupations. By 2030, he said, it is estimated that this trend could create 20 million to 50 million jobs globally.

He said that the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development after considerable research is aimed at consistently providing various youth Empowerment programmes, “it is in the same spirit that Mr. President and myself in 2020 launched the DEEL Initiative which stands for: Digital Skills Acquisition: with the goal of training up to 200,000 youth in Digital Skills across the country using the National Youth Development Centers. Entrepreneurship Empowerment: A partnership with DBN which has already began with the Nigerian Youth Investment Fund, where 1.5 Million Nigerian Youth are benefiting from various loan amounts. This according to him, involves programmes such as the ongoing Work Experience programme and Leadership Training through the CLTC agency.

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, adding that the training is 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 have 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.

A statement issued by the director, press and public relations, Nohammed Manga, Adeagbo hanked 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.