Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, has officially flagged off the Abia TechRise Cohort 2, 2025 Training Programme aimed at equipping youths with essential digital skills to stimulate economic growth.
The three-month intensive programme with the theme, “Redefining the Future,” seeks to empower 850 youths across the 17 Local Government Councils with digital skills in Software Development, Animation, Coding, Machine Learning, Data Engineering, AI fundamentals, among others.
This follows the successful completion of the first cohort in May 2025, during which 510 youths graduated and the 19 best trainees were offered automatic employment into the State Civil Service by Governor Otti.
Declaring the event open in Aba, Governor Otti noted that the programme is not just a training exercise but a declaration of his administration’s “unwavering commitment to empowering the next generation and diversifying the State’s economy.
“Today marks a defining moment in our state’s journey towards a brighter, more prosperous future. We are lighting the fuse of innovation and igniting the potential of our greatest assets: our young people.”
The Governor, represented by the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Prince Uzor Nwachukwu, emphasised that the programme is designed to bridge the digital skills gap, warning that without such interventions, “the digital divide will perpetuate cycles of unemployment and limit our political growth.”
“This training is our commitment to empowering youths, our greatest resource, with the essential digital skills needed to thrive in this new landscape.
“Our vision is to transform our state into a hub of digital excellence, a place where young people are not just beneficiaries of technology, but creators of technology.
“This three-month intensive training programme addresses a critical gap: the disparity between the skills of our young people and the demands of the modern job market. Without such intervention, this digital divide will perpetuate cycles of unemployment and limit our political growth.
“Over the next three months, you, the participants, will be equipped with job-ready digital skills, from basic literacy to advanced applications.
“This training will make you highly employable in a competitive marketplace. We are not training you to simply find jobs, but we are training you to create jobs. You will be empowered to become entrepreneurs, innovators, and job creators contributing to our local economy,” the Governor stated.
He therefore urged participants to take the training seriously, adding that with the digital skills acquired, participants would be able to compete for projects globally, bring in foreign exchange, and contribute to stabilising the State’s economy.
“With these skills, you will be able to complete jobs and projects from anywhere in the world, bringing in foreign exchange and stabilising our economy. This is a life-changing opportunity for all of you that should not be taken for granted,” the Governor said.
Speaking on behalf of the Local Government Chairmen, the Mayor of Umunneochi LGA, Hon. Sunday Afuruobi, expressed gratitude to Governor Otti for providing Abia youths with the opportunity to be trained in ICT.
He emphasised the importance of taking the training seriously and urged participants to imbibe the can-do spirit of the Igbo people and strive to become future employers of labour.
Earlier in her address, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Lady Oge Maduka, emphasised that the transformative boot camp is designed to equip young people with skills in innovation, problem-solving, and entrepreneurship within the digital economy and urged them to take the programme seriously.
Lady Maduka recalled that over 8,000 applicants had vied for the programme, with only 850 finalists selected, and thanked the Governor as well as the 17 Local Government Mayors for jointly sponsoring the programme.
The event featured a short documentary tagged “The Journey So Far” on TechRise 1.0 & 2.0 by the CEO, Learn Factory Nigeria, Engr. Chibueze Ukaegbu.
