Tech Skills Hack empowers 100 youths with digital literacy

With the revolution around technology and diverse opportunities that come with it, Tech Skill Hack (TSH), has partnered with the Yoruba Tennis Club to train 100 Nigerian youths with high-demand tech skills including web design, digital marketing, and technical writing.

Tech Skills Hack is a social enterprise with an objective of equipping Nigerians with global, employable, and futuristic digital skills at no or a reduced cost with the aim of curbing unemployment, promoting digital literacy, and the healthy use of digital tools for ease, accessibility, and productivity by small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

The two weeks training at Onikan Youth Center which started on 14th February has three trainers for the skills. Iniobong Udoh, Darlington Okafor, and Anthony Eyo are facilitators of technical writing, web design, and digital marketing respectively.

“Today’s employers are looking for in-demand skills and that is what we train people for at TSH. We go to job sites including LinkedIn, Glassdoor, to be updated because tech skills are dynamic. A skill that was relevant maybe 10 years ago might not be relevant right now, hence the need for this training,” Iniobong Udoh, founder of TSH, told BusinessDay.

The trainees took the opportunity shared via a link on Facebook and applied for the training. According to some of the students, the training is fully packed despite not being paid for.

Read also: 45,000 Nigerian teachers to get training on digital literacy

“My key area of interest is web design. With my little knowledge of graphics design, I have been able to gather more and I can successfully build a website on my own now. It’s been interesting and insightful because there’s absolutely no day you come here, and you don’t learn anything new,” Obinna Nwachukwu said.

For 32-year-old Karimat Jagun who is a graduate of Accounting, what inspired her to come for the training is the technological trends around her course of study where she desires to pursue a career.

“Everything is moving towards tech and it cuts across all industries. In the finance industry, we have what we call cloud prenups which involve finance and its operations. In order not to be left out of these trends, one needs to up-skill themselves and that’s why I’m here,” Jagun said.

With the first of its kind in Lagos, the three-year-old enterprise has also engaged trainees in digital skills training for entrepreneurs in Akwa Ibom state where it partnered with the state government to impact accessibility and scale-up businesses.

In line with the mission of TSH, the ongoing training is not age-limited and it saw participation from across all ethnic groups and religions. 13-year-old Saheed Bisiriyu, the youngest trainee is a J.S.S. 3 pupil of Eko-Akete junior secondary school Ajele, Onikan, is being trained on web design.

“To safeguard the future of these young ones amidst the unemployment rate, we have to do everything we can. From this knowledge, these ones can stand on their own as well as train other people which will, in turn, empower more people to make ends meet for themselves. Also, where there are opportunities for jobs with this skills-knowledge in Lagos state, the first people we will recommend are from training like this,” Adedoyin Adepoju, General secretary of the ladies’ wing, YTC said.

Apart from training these students with high demand tech skills, they are also being trained on how to market them on freelance platforms including Upwork and Fiverr, and at the end of the training, the organisers expect the students to have gained mastery of at least one of the skills to showcase them on these platforms.

Speaking on the challenges faced, Udoh explained the internet as a major one. “Limited internet usage can slow down the learning process, and being that most of these guys came with their own personal laptops, it was quite easier to learn using their own internet access. So if we have unlimited internet access, we will achieve more.”

Similarly, the enterprise needs more partnerships to cover a wider population of youths across all states. On the other hand, government agencies, private institutions, as well as individual employers should reach out to well-trained and grounded employees who have come out of skill-trainings like this to curb unemployment growth in the country.