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Lagos and Kano have been listed as the top two states from which the highest number of beneficiaries will be selected in the ongoing applications for the Federal Government’s 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) program.
According to the implementation plan released by the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, in phase one of the program targeting 30,000 trainees, 2,040 will be selected from Lagos. Kano State is the second largest beneficiary with 1,628 trainees to be selected in the first phase of the program.
While the Ministry did not state the criteria for allocating the numbers, it may not be unconnected with the population as Lagos and Kano are the two most populous states in Nigeria.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Kano and Lagos had a population of 13 million and 12.5 million respectively as of 2016.
Other top states in terms of beneficiaries to be selected for the first phase of the program include Rivers (1,450), Oyo (1,327), Delta (1,212), Kaduna (1,155), Ogun (1,043), Imo (1,030), and Akwa Ibom (1,004). All other States will have less than 1,000 trainees to complete the first 30,000.
Applications cross 300,000
Meanwhile, more Nigerians have been applying for the training. According to the Minister, as of October 19, a total of 330, 713 Nigerians had applied for the 30,000 positions. This was barely a week after applications were opened on October 13, 2023.
It is unclear yet when the applications will be closed as the Ministry did not specify a closure date. As of the time of filing this report, the program website is still accepting applications.
The program
According to Tijani, the 3MTT program is a critical part of the Renewed Hope agenda and is aimed at building Nigeria’s technical talent backbone to power its digital economy and position Nigeria as a net talent exporter.
He said the first phase of the program, executed in collaboration with NITDA, will involve multiple stakeholders including fellows, training providers, partners, and placement organizations.
In the first phase, he said the government would We will select individuals with an interest in specific skills and fund the cost of their training with training providers accepted into the program.
Highlighting how the first phase of the program will run, the Minister stated:
“In line with the Ministry’s 1%-10%-100% implementation approach, this first phase will aim to train and place 30,000 technical talents, representing 1% of our overall target. It will be executed based on the framework co-created with key stakeholders across government agencies, training providers, educational institutions, development agencies, and the private sector.”
According to the Minister, some of the skills Nigerians would be trained on in the first phase are skills that utilize technology to enhance various roles without directly involving tech creation.
These include Digital Marketing, Project Management Software, Cloud Platforms Navigation, Data Analysis and Visualization, Digital Marketing, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), CRM Management, Accounting Software, Graphics Design, and UX/UI Design, among several others.
