CITAD, Partners Built ₦26m Digital Community Hub at Jama’are LGA.
By Abubakar Baba Ahmad.
The Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) has constructed and handed over a Digital Community Hub worth 26 million naira at Jama’are local government area of Bauchi state.
The project supported by partners to include Hello World, 48 Percent, Association for Progressive Communication APC, is aimed at enhancing technology training and digital literacy skills to residents of the area and surrounding communities.
The Executive Director CITAD, Dr Yunusa Zakariya’u who stated this at the handing over ceremony of the Digital Hub at Jama’are Council Secretariat, said the project was a collaborative effort between (CITAD), partners and the benefitting community, noting that the facility has the capacity to accommodate over two hundred Internet users at a time.
“That’s why we just established this community hub where citizens of this community will come and access the Internet freely. CITAD is championing the activities in Nigeria, not only in Bauchi state”, He states.
Dr Yunusa Zakariya’u said the facility is a virtual classroom equipped with educational resources that can train women, youth, students, farmers and prospective entrepreneurs on various skill trades.
“The cost implications of the Jamare hub is that we bought the laptops, equipment, pay for the internet for full one year, but community also contributed with some resources in terms of erecting the structure, buying cement and blocks and so forth, but for the individual, he or she has nothing to pay as regard handset or computer or data for the allotted period”, Zakariya’u reveals.
He added that, “Hello World designed the dome, 48 Percent made contributions in terms of some equipment that include solar and network, while the Association for Progressive Communication (APC) has been a long standing partner of CITAD”.
Inaugurating the facility, the Emir of Jama’are Alhaji Nuhu Ahmad Wani represented by the Chairman Jama’are Community Network Muhammad Sabo Madaki appreciated the donors for investing huge resources and appealed to all stakeholders to support the hub to continue to render services for the benefit of all communities.
On his part, the Chairman Jama’are Development Forum JDF, Alhaji Sani Gidado represented by the Chairman Abuja Chapter of the forum Dr Abdulmumini Muhammad advised the people not to politicise developmental issues in the areas of education, health and security, noting that all problems associated with such sectors do not discriminate based on political affiliations.
In seperate goodwill messages, the Chairman Jama’are local government, Alhaji Inuwa Moisha represented by the council’s Secretary Alhaji Abdullahi Danbaba, Local Education Secretary Malam Ali Isa, representative of Jama’are Correctional Service OiC ASC Sale Sabo and Women Leader Mairo Ciroma commended CITAD for supporting communities in need and appealed to people of the area to take advantage of the facility to develop themselves.
The National Coordinator Community Network Project, CITAD Haruna Adamu Hadejia said apart from the one year Internet subscription at the hub, Steering and Security committees as well as Community Champions have been established and trained to ensure sustainability.
So far, the Hello World Digital Hub has been established at Dakwa in FCT, Jama’are in Bauchi and another to be build at Itas Gadau local government area of Bauchi state with twenty expected across the country by the end of the year.
