Oba Akinolu unveils WCLD-05

OBA of Lagos, Alaiyeluwa Riliwanu Babatunde Akinolu, has unveiled this year NIIT’s World Computer Literacy Day (WCLD) movement in the country.WCLD is a campaign launched in December 2001 in support of the agitation to declare December 2, a World Computer Literacy Day.

This is championed by an Indian international computer institute,
NIIT.The institute uses the annual launch of the campaign to offer special
training discounts to citizens in over 31 countries globally, which usually last
for month.

Declaring the event open, Oba Akinolu told newsmen at his palace in Lagos that he accepted to endorse this programme because of its immense benefit to the populace, especially Lagosians.

He also said that the decision was accelerated by the long time standing conviction that Indian NIIT is one of the best Information Technology (IT) training organization.

He enjoined Nigerians to embrace the programme so as to acquire relevant knowledge needed at this era.“I hope the initiative inspires Nigerians from all walks of life to cross the digital divide by taking advantage of the computer learning being provided by NIIT,” he said.

Statistics available to him, he said, shows that estimated 130,000
Nigerians have either completed the programme, or registered for it since the
inception of WCLD in 2002.

He emphasised that the 2005 edition, which began since October this year would close by the end of this year.

He described the unveiling as an epoch making and a day to remember.Chief executive, International Data Management (IDM) Services Limited, Dr. Chris Bolu, whose office manages the NIIT Nigeria franchise, said that the target before the end of this year is 10,000 Nigerians to be migrated into the IT fold.

“We hope to make this into the most powerful computer literacy movement in the country,” he said.