By STELLAMARIS ASHINZE

Huawei Nigeria on Tuesday held its 2nd Job Fair in Lagos aimed at generating employment for about 2500 youths in the next three years.

The Deputy Director, Human Resource, Huawei, Mr Adebayo Akinsulie said on the sideline of the fair that the programme was aimed at bridging the unemployment gap in the country.

Akinsulie said that the job fair was held in partnership with about 20 other ICT organisations.

He said the first one was held in Abuja in August for individuals who were ready to align with Huawei goals for the future.

“What we are doing with our partners is to bridge the unemployment gap and look for individuals who are experienced to bring into our system.

“It is also for those who are still in school and for those that have finished national youth service scheme to be engaged as graduate trainees.

“We want to create what we can call professional army with the aim of understanding our products and how they can align with us to meet the goals,* he said

According to him, in Abuja about a 100 individuals have been employed, adding there were plans to continue with the fair even after meeting the 2,500 target.

Mr. Kenneth Igwe, Talent Ecosystem Manager, Huawei Technologies Company Nigeria Limited said that the initiative by Huawei was a calculated endeavor to assist young graduates, interns, and corpers seeking to advance their careers.

According to him, Huawei’s vision was to continuously invest in training and reshaping young talents for a more digitalized and technologically advanced future.

According to him, “Currently in Nigeria, we have 125 active academies which formed part of the talent ecosystem where Huawei and Industry partners can look and pick from for the purpose of employment.

“The seeds for the future programme were Huawei’s CSR programme to shape the future.”

The Media Manager for Huawei, Idongesit Bassey, said that in Nigeria, since 2015 till date, 40 students had been sent to China and over 150 students had been trained online during the pandemic under the Seeds for the Future initiative.

The Vice Chancellor, University of Lagos, Professor Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, said that the world was changing and within five years there would be so much change in the ICT sector.

Ogundipe said hard skills were no longer needed but soft skills that would think outside the box and find solutions.

According to him, Nigerian youth are full of ideas and potential and should use it for the benefit of the country. (NAN)

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