The Nigerian Government has condemned the destruction of the Nigerian Communication Commission’s Industrial Park in Kano in northern Nigeria on Thursday during the #Endbadgovernance protest.
Nigeria’s Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Mr. Bosun Tijani, who confirmed that the facility, which is a state-of-the-art technology hub, was billed to be launched next week, was looted and set ablaze.
The minister said that the incident occurred during the nationwide protests against bad governance and described the destruction as “a slight setback” for Nigeria’s digital economy ambitions and youth job creation efforts, but acknowledged that “millions of naira have gone down the drain.”
“Sad to learn that our Digital Innovation Park in Kano, slated for launch next week to support our technical talent accelerator (3MTT), has been set ablaze and looted by protesters,” the report by Punch newspaper quoted the minister as writing on his X.
According to the minister, the facility was intended to support the Technical Talent Accelerator programme and host the Buildathon Holiday Maker programme for secondary school students.
He explained that the 3MTT initiative is focusing on developing Nigeria’s technical talent pipeline to drive its digital economy and establish the country as a hub for talent export.
Launched with an initial 30,000 participants, representing one per cent of the ambitious 3 million target, the programme has since expanded to include an additional 270,000 individuals in its second cohort, reaching a total of 10 per cent.
GIK/APA
Protesters loot Govt’s technology hub, set ablaze facility in Kano
