A non-government organization, Save Ijaw Nation Group, SING Foundation, which works in the Niger Delta region to promote sustainable development through youth involvement, good governance and environmental justice, has concluded plans to kick off a test-run of its Code 3 Project, which aims to skill up over twenty thousand Niger Delta youth in four years, in the area of ICT and employability skills.
The programme which is targeted at building the human capacity in the region, using a catch-them-young approach is targeted at children below the age of 15 in the first phase, which is set to run from 5th to 31st of August, 2019.
The test-run for the Code 3 Project would be conducted at the King AJ TURNER CENTRE FOR HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT in Opume Community, Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa state.
The programme would see children of Opume and neighbouring communities, trained in coding for web and be equipped to build tech solutions that address the immediate needs of the area, seek employment or become self-employed as well as develop themselves further in the field of ICTs. The Code 3 project, incorporating its three component units of Learn, Innovate and Impact, ultimately will change the narratives about the Niger Delta region as the young ones begin to not only envision, but actively help to shape a future in which the scramble for scarce crude oil resources is the major driver of socio-economic activities.
The Niger Delta region, currently has the highest rates of youth unemployment, due to the fact that the states merely rely on huge Federation Account Allocations, while the youth of the region cannot be productively engaged due to low skill base, while the traditional sources of livelihood the region, such as farming and fishing, have been lost to oil exploration activities.
The Code 3 Project deploys a combination of practical teaching, mentoring, internships and case studies to ensure that trainees graduate from the programme with the right skills to be in demand and employable.
