No less than 25 Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) have completed the IT Bridge Academy programme, a pioneering initiative by Sightsavers designed to provide accessible and high-quality IT training.
The academy, hosted by Digital Bridge Institute (DBI) Lagos Campus, aims to bridge the digital divide by equipping persons with disabilities with industry-recognised certifications and pathways to employment. The programme’s disability-inclusive model offers tailored support, extended timelines for course completion, and accommodations such as screen readers and sign language interpreters.
The graduates, comprising 16 female and 9 male students, earned Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) certifications, with some already securing internships at top firms like MTN Nigeria and the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM).
The IT Bridge Academy has received overwhelming interest, with over 400 applications received for the Lagos programme alone in 2023. This demonstrates the growing demand for inclusive tech education and employment opportunities in Nigeria.
“We’re very happy that Nigeria has the National Commission for Persons with Disability that is also championing this cause, and that the private sector also is coming together to make sure that their workplaces are inclusive for persons with disability. So yes, not the first step, but we still have a long way to go as a nation,” she said.
Speaking at the graduation on Thursday, Dr. Joy Shuaibu, Country Director for Sight Savers in Nigeria, noted that it has continually, in all countries where we work, advocated to ensure that persons with disability are not just in employment, but are skilled with what it takes for them to be employed and as a nation, Nigeria have a long way to go.
Viola Askia Usoro, Head, Special Programme DBI, representing DBI President David Daber, disclosed that DBI is resolute about pushing the concept of inclusivity to deliver its mandate to carry out capacity building, this time for persons with disabilities.
“It is important for us to equip them with the skills so that they can benefit from the opportunities in Nigeria’s digital economy,” she said.
She added that President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda has a very important pillar: youth empowerment, which is “inclusive of all youth, and therefore this program signposts the empowerment for persons with disabilities aspect of that.”
