The Federal Government has set February 29th, 2024, as the date for the announcement of 270,000 Nigerians selected for the second cohort of its 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) programme.
Dr. Bosun Tijani, Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, made the announcement on Monday while providing programme updates.
According to him, the fellows who will be announced on February 29th will begin their training in March.
The Minister stated that the government is excited to continue with the programme since it continues to get significant assistance from partners and stakeholders in meeting its goal of training 3 million Nigerians in technical skills.
Jobs for the first batch fellows.
The Communications Minister provided an update in a post on his X account, saying:
“As we wrap up the first phase of the @3MTTNigeria programme, I am pleased to provide an update on our progress so far.”The selection of fellows for the 2nd phase of the 3MTT programme will be revealed on Thursday, February 29th, 2024, with training starting in March.Another important item is that as our first cohort graduates from the programme, we will finalise job placements for them. We now have over 1,400 organisations interested in hiring fellows from our first cohort, and we will announce the first round of job placements in the coming weeks.
“This is a critical part of the objective of the #3MTT Programme that ensures we not only deliver technically trained talent but also connect them to decent jobs.”
The programme
According to Tijani, the 3MTT programme is a vital component of the Renewed Hope agenda, with the goal of strengthening Nigeria’s technical talent base to power its digital economy and position the country as a net talent exporter.
He stated that the program’s initial phase, which will be carried out in partnership with NITDA, will include a wide range of stakeholders such as fellows, training providers, partners, and placement organisations.
In the first phase, he stated that the government will choose persons interested in specific talents and pay their training through training providers approved by the programme.
The Minister highlighted how the first phase of the programme was structured to run ahead of the kickoff, stating:
“In accordance with the Ministry’s 1%-10%-100% implementation strategy, the first phase will train and place 30,000 technical talents, accounting for 1% of our overall target. It will be implemented using a framework developed in collaboration with key partners including government agencies, training providers, educational institutions, development organisations, and the corporate sector.”
Some of the skills that Nigerians were instructed on in the first phase included using technology to improve various professions without directly requiring tech production.
Digital Marketing, Project Management Software, Cloud Platform Navigation, Data Analysis and Visualisation, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), CRM Management, Accounting Software, Graphics Design, and UX/UI Design are just a few examples.