National Telescope national telescope newspaper
Pointek, Nigeria’s leading retail store for technology products, has made public its plan to train 1,000 gadget technicians in order to bridge the unemployment gap in the country during a press conference held in Lagos on Tuesday, 7 May, 2019. L-R: Darlington Nnakwe, Retail Manager, Pointek; Izy Wilson-Alika, Head Human Resource, Pointek; Emeka Oguchi, Managing Director, Pointek; Ifeyinwa Oguchi, Chief Financial Officer, Pointek; Jimoh Mustapha, Business Manager, Pointek, at the announcement of the Pointek skills acquisition and entrepreneurship training.
According to the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS), unemployment and underemployment rates in Q’3 2018 were 23.1 per cent and 20.1 per cent respectively, with global experts explaining that employment generation can be duly facilitated through small and medium scale businesses.
“With the youth constituting about 70 percent of Nigeria’s rising population, we need to have an inclusive economy that will spur national socio-economic growth,” said EmekaOguchi, Managing Director, Pointek. “While it is the role of the government to provide an enabling environment for business, private institutions and other stakeholders have to consistently create and support activities that will improve the economy”.
According to Oguchi, competent gadget technicians and entrepreneurs will be produced through the training’s while also making sure that the beneficiaries harness hidden opportunities in the technology sector.
“We are extremely proud of our brand reputation among customers across Nigeria and we intend to leverage on this to improve lives by creating jobs and building new businesses. We also believe that this will be effective in curbing social vices as the trainings are focused majorly on students and prison inmates. The first set of training were recently carried out at Technical School, Agidingbi,” he stated.
Trainees will be supported through a mentorship program during the incubation period, while some beneficiaries will be financially empowered to start up their own businesses. Selected trainees will also be employed to work with Pointek’s engineering team. The event featured insightful sessions as speakers highlighted the issues and opportunities in the industry, including the benefits of speedily addressing unemployment in Nigeria.
(Vanguard)
