March 2023

In keeping with the vision of making Imo the leading digital economy of the nation and having delivered on the promises made on the flag off of the Ministry of Digital Economy and E-Government SkillUpImo Project, the Governor of Imo State, Distinguished Senator Hope Uzodinma is set to commence the second segment of the SkillupImo programme. Worthy of note is that His Excellency Distinguished Senator Hope Uzodimma places high premium on the SkillUp Imo project due to its potential of achieving the triple objectives of positioning IMO state as the digital skills hub of Africa, tackling Youth unemployment , diversifying and building states digital economy. With the actualization of equipping 5,000 Imolites with digital skills and subsequently, various digital tools at a flamboyant Graduation Ceremony held at Landmark event Centre on the 22nd of February 2023, little wonder that the slots in the Cohort 2 of the SkillupImo project have been heavily oversubscribed. Consequent upon the success of the cohort 1 training programme with some of the graduands already monetizing their skills as techpreneurs while others have been linked to various employment opportunities, 15,000 Imolites are now jostling for 10,000 slots at the ongoing enrollment. Speaking in an interview, The Honourable Commissioner for Digital Economy and E-Government, Dr. Chimezie Amadi confirmed that pre- admission Assement has been conducted for over 15, 000 prospective trainees who registered for the Digital skills training. In his words “ Unlike in Cohort 1, we had to conduct the pre-admission Assessment to enable us sieve the huge size of prospective trainees and ensure that only committed learners are admitted and enrolled in the right programme. We learnt a lot of lessons in the course of managing Cohort 1 and the introduction of Pre-admission assessment is one of the ways designed to Improve our processes to meet the programme objective and achieve the intended outcome”. “Going by the extent of work we have done with respect to process re-engineering, Cohort 2 promises an enhanced learning experience for both Learner and Instructors”, the Commissioner added. In Cohort 2, Four additional Learning Centers viz : Federal Polytechnic Nekede, Imo Polytechnic Omuma, University of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences Umuagwo, K. O Mbadiwe University, Ideato, has been established to compliment the existing Centers at the Ministry of Digital economy and E- Government headquarter office , Imo State University , Alvan Ikoku College of Education , Polytechnic Nekede and Claretian University all geared towards enhancing access to digital skills learning for IMO Youths across the state. Dr. Amadi further disclosed that the training will cover various sheds of soft and hard digital skills. The honourable commissioner unveiled that the ministry will be partnering with Tech companies like Cisco, Hauwei and Microsoft as well as the National Examining Board for Technical Education (NABTEB) for certification and value optimization of the programme. Ministry of Digital Economy and E-Government conducted Pre-admission assessment tests on the 23rd of March and will be issuing admission letters online on the 28th of March to successful candidates.Onboarding of admitted students will be carried out on the 29th of March at their various centres while the Orientation Programme will hold online on the 31st of March 2023. The SkillUpImo Project is rooted in the First Pillar of the Imo Digital Economy Agenda ( I.D.E.A) 2022-2026 on Digital Literacy and Skills with the objective of positioning Imo as Africa’s Skills Hub through massive training of 300,000 Imolites in new innovative and industry 4.0 skills set that equips them to be productively employed or self-employed required to align in a digitally evolving world. Sandra OparaP.R.O