“India was the source of technology talents for many years, it is our time because we have everything it takes to be able to get there.” He stated.
The primary goal of one of his ministry’s main programs, according to Minister of Communication, Innovation, and Digital Economy Bosun Tijani, is to generate employment for the hordes of young Nigerians.
According to Tijani, the program’s goal is to train three million technical talent in four years, making Nigeria and India both net exporters of technological expertise.
Tijani stated on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Monday, “We want to make Nigeria a net exporter of technology talents, and by net exporter, we don’t mean that people necessarily live abroad because within the technology space you can now work remotely.”
“I have also worked in the tech industry for the past fifteen years. There are less than 10,000 technical talent driving the present development in the tech startup market.
Even if the well-known startup Almighty Andela does not train 10,000 people in Nigeria, they have been fairly effective in supporting the development of that ecosystem.
So, think what would happen when we train talented people if less than 10,000 people built where we are today. The precondition for our digital economy is talent. We can export when we train others to build. It was done in India; it is not novel. India was a longtime wellspring of technological talent; now is our chance since we have all the necessary resources to succeed in that field.
“We aim to turn Nigeria into a net exporter of talent in technology.”
The minister emphasized that the nation’s academic institutions must engage in research, noting that this is an area in which the government is “heavily” investing.
He said that the ministry established a research funding program within the first three months of taking office, and that program has since sponsored forty-five artificial intelligence initiatives.
According to him, funding for artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives is necessary because AI is a technology that will have a big impact on society and if the government is not prepared in the next 12 to 15 months, people will start to wonder.