The humanitarian situation in the Nigeria Northeast region is set to receive a boost as Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) disclosed that about $7 million has been earmarked to support its rehabilitation and reconstruction programme.
According to the Chief Representative of JICA in Nigeria, Susumu Yuzurio, JICA and the Japanese government are concerned about the humanitarian situation in the Northeast due to the insurgents.
He made the remarks in Abuja at the graduation of the North-East Start-ups Training (NEST) programme for 20 selected Startups and Entrepreneurs under the JICA and National Information Technology Development Agency, (NITDA) initiative.
Yuzurio said Japan alongside the Japanese private sectors were collaborating to support activities that would bring about normalcy in the region and improve the living conditions of the people.
He said the training programme was a component of the collaboration and strategic support for the Northeast rebuilding efforts, stating that the skills acquired by participants would serve as a catalyst for self-actualization and improved standard of living.
The Director General of NITDA, Malam Kashifu Abdullahi, who was represented by Mr Nnyene Mbanga of the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR), said participants at the training programme should consider themselves fortunate as they were chosen out of hundreds of others.
Abdullahi said the training ran side by side with the iHatch Incubation program’s second cohort and the Ninja Acceleration programme.
He said: “The 2-week free intensive training programme hosted 20 participants cut across all the states in the Northeast, to help them refine their business ideas through a series of coaching, lectures, and mentorships, to generate viable and scalable business models.”
