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ICT experts seek use of geo-satellite equipment to tackle unemployment

By Chuka Odittah, Abuja
25 January 2017   |   4:15 am
Adequate deployment of information communication technology is a potent weapon against massive youth unemployment ravaging the country, an Austrian-based ICT Expert, Walter Mayer, has said.
ICT

ICT

Adequate deployment of information communication technology is a potent weapon against massive youth unemployment ravaging the country, an Austrian-based ICT Expert, Walter Mayer, has said.

Mayer, who gave the advice in Abuja at a roundtable on Dynamics of Agro-ICT Satellite Solutions, convened by Dilimson Holdings Limited, in conjunction with the Austrian Chamber of Commerce, said unemployment level in the country would be cut by half if government embraced Geo satellite equipment in agriculture business.

He argued that deployment of Geo-satellite equipment in agriculture will create new jobs for large number of youths who would be offered employment through the ICT based technology, adding that agriculture has the potential of turning in more revenue than oil and gas combined if properly harnessed.

Mayer stated that Nigeria is on the right path in seeking diversification of the economy but would need to deploy ICT in managing her vast mineral and forest resources.

According to him, Nigeria needs to practice precision farming in order to avoid wastage of scarce resources adding that the advantage is that the country is able to identify soil types, best location for mineral resources, arid lands among other information.

The convener of the roundtable, George Umuobi, said the essence of the discussion is to avail the Federal Government with affordable information technology that can help it achieve diversification of the economy.

He stressed that the use of ICT in the diversification efforts will encourage youths to take part in the critical sector, which can contribute more than oil and gas to the nation’s GDP.

A former Vice Chancellor, Federal University of Agriculture, Prof Placid Njoku, who was also present at the event, said the area of livestock is an important part of agriculture that can generate money for the Federal Government, much more than oil and gas, if properly harness,

He added: “The Federal Government needs to be properly guided in this area to enable her get the best from the sector, especially for revenue generation. Protein deficiency can be a thing of the past if government takes Geo-surveillance technology seriously.”

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