Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has harped on the need for the country to develop an ecosystem of competent Nigerians who can secure jobs locally and internationally.
The former Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice said this on Thursday during a virtual courtesy call from Huawei Nigeria led by its new CEO, Trevor Liu.
“I think that Huawei and the Federal Government should work as partners, not just a business relationship, but a relationship that also takes employment into account, especially with our young population,” a statement by his media aide, Laolu Akande, quoted the former Head of Department, Public Law, University of Lagos as saying.
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Osinbajo explained that “we need to develop an ecosystem of competent Nigerians who can work locally and get international jobs as well, a business-outsourcing-type arrangement.”
While commending the efforts put in place by Huawei in training Nigerians, the vice president reiterated the need to go beyond capacity building.
He said “every other technology company does training programmes, but that is not what I am looking for. I am looking at something that shows Huawei wants to be a partner with Nigeria, working together as a corporate organization that sees itself as a part of Nigeria’s future. There are loads of people who have done training but have no work.
“I want us to do something groundbreaking and different. Let’s see something that gives young people more than training, gives them some opportunity as well because this ecosystem will require a lot of people who see Huawei not just as a business but a brand that’s interested in them going forward.”
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Liu, while responding on behalf of the tech company, restated that the firm is investing in youths, noting that Huawei has a lot of Nigerians working for it and would continue to do more.
The Huawei CEO assured the Nigerian government that the company would deploy more resources to building young people and give a progress update, adding that the firm wants to position the country as the continent’s technology centre.
Those present at the virtual courtesy call include the Deputy Managing of Huawei, Otunba Lanre Odekunle, and the General Manager of Huawei in Nigeria, Michael Zhuang.