Ekiti State Government has partnered Microsoft Nigeria to train thousands of unemployed and underemployed youths across the state on new digital skills through the Global Skilling Initiative.

The State Government has also committed to pay for certification examinations of up to 2000 residents in various skills of their choice through the programme to improve their credentials.

The programme, designed by Microsoft, and its partners, LinkedIn and GitHub, will help young people acquire skills needed to make them more employable in the post-COVID-19 marketplace. Entrepreneurs and business owners can also participate in the programme, to build the capacity of their various employees to promote professionalism, improved work output, and excellent service delivery. The programme is available at microsoftskills.ekitistate.gov.ng.

Applicants will be trained on various skills such as; Customer Service, Digital Marketing, Financial Analysis, Graphics Designing, IT Support/Help Desk Technology, Project Management, Sales Development, Data Analysis, IT Administration, and Software Development. Successful participants will acquire industry-recognized IT Certification.

The Partnership is part of the State Government’s strategic focus on the Ekiti Knowledge Zone initiative and ensures that Ekiti develops a talent pool that will make it an attractive destination for both domestic and international technology companies. It also reinforces the Ekiti heritage of being a knowledge-driven society.

The Global Skilling Initiative is Microsoft’s response to help 25 million people worldwide acquire new digital skills for the COVID-19 economy. Microsoft’s response to help 25 million people worldwide acquire new digital skills for the COVID-19 economy. The initiative identified the global economic crisis, a different hybrid economy that solves to stem the economic downturn. Using IT tools like Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Microsoft has identified the 10 most available jobs and created training modules to upskill participants to better qualify for those jobs. The Global Skilling Initiative will end March 2021.

Ekiti is the first state in Nigeria to partner Microsoft to provide access to the Global Skilling Initiative for its unemployed population as part of Governor Kayode Fayemi’s strategic actions to mitigate the economic impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

OduduwaNews gathered today that a middle-aged man, Kareem Isiaka Monday baby arrested by security agents in Ibadan as he made efforts to defraud people by claiming to be the recruitment officer for the Oyo State security outfit.

Taiwo had on Sunday pasted a notice at the Adamasingba Stadium venue of the State’s recruitment screening center with his name and phone numbers that those interested in joining the Amotekun Corps should contact him.

The management of the outfit got wind of the notice on Monday morning and started a subtle trail of the culprit and he was apprehended at 11:45am and handed over to the security agents for prosecution.

When asked what prompted the act, a sobered Kareem Isiaka who claimed to be selling bags of cements said it was the work of the devil and regretted his act, saying only one person contacted him through his number.

The Chairman, Oyo State Security Network Agency (Amotekun Corps), Gen. Kunle Toogun (Rtd.) in his reaction said the general public should be wary of fraudsters in their quest to become members of the corps.

He however used the occasion to inform journalists that screening of applicants into the corps would continue as the exercise had just covered only the Ibadan city axis.

“Those that missed their screening have been called to join others for their fresh screening, this will easily pave way for equal participation, although we have encountered so many challenges since we started, some came with forged certificates and documents, you have seen the one that just happened, but we are unrelenting.

“The screening will continue with the less cities, the Oke-Ogun zones one and two, Ido, Ibarapa among others, we want to make the exercise as open and less cumbersome to applicants as possible, the governor has demanded for openness and exactly that we are giving,” he said.

The screening exercise had commenced in the last one week at the Adamasingba stadium, where applicants tendered their certificates to show their readiness to work with the outfit.

Ibadan Born Nollywood Actor, Prof. Ayobami Akinwale is dead

It was gathered that the Ibadan born thespian died yesterday shortly after a brief illness.

OduduwaNews could ascertain that the Ibadan born thespian died yesterday, Sunday, September 13th, 2020, shortly after a brief illness.

Prof. Ayobami Akinwale was born in the early 50s to the royal household of Pa Akinwale in the ancient City of Ibadan where he began his education at the St. Lukes Demonstration School, Molete Ibadan, Oyo State, and then proceeded to Methodist High School also in Ibadan, where he was introduced to theater arts.

The deceased who starred in movies like Sango (1997),Ladepo Omo Adanwo (2005), Iranse Aje (2007) and many others, was also a professor in the department of The Performing Arts at the University of Ilorin, Ilorin.

Akinwale was not only a veteran actor but a movie producer and an academician and arguably one of the best actors in Nollywood we ever had. He featured in several radio and television programmes and and also home movies.

An unspecified number of persons may have been crushed dead on Monday morning in a train accident at Arena area of Oshodi Lagos.

Details of the accident are still sketchy but the Lagos State Emergency Agency are currently at the scene of the incident and helping with the evacuation.

Details later.