In a bid to ensure residents get unfettered access to digital education, Oyo State Government has inaugurated two digital literacy centres in Ibadan.
One of the centres is located beside Holy Trinity School, Old Ife Road, while the other is at Moore Service Station, Odo-Ona Elewe in Ibadan.
The donation of the centres by American Tower Company (ATC) Nigeria was facilitated by the state government through the Oyo State Model Education System Intervention (OYOMESI).
Dr Bisi Akin-Alabi, Special Adviser to Gov. Abiola Ajimobi on Education, Science and Technology, said no fewer than 5,000 residents were expected to benefit from the project before May 2019.
Akin-Alabi said the state government’s collaboration on the project was to ensure residents of the state had knowledge of digital equipment and became digitally literate.
The chairmen the of Ibadan North East Local Government and Ibadan West LCDA, Mr Lekan Afuye and Mr Yomi Adefusi respectively, noted that residents had shown interest in the programme.
The duo, who are chairmen of the benefitting local governments, assured that the centres would be efficiently deployed to improve the digital literacy of their constituents.
They prayed that more digital literacy centres be built across the 33 local government areas of the state.
Mr Remi Akerele, a community leader, also assured that the project would be secured and maintained to serve its expected purpose.
Earlier, Mrs Gloria Eyieyien, representative of ATC Nigeria, said the project was aimed at educating residents, both young and old, with required digital skills to function in today’s world.
Eyieyien, however, expreesed displeasure that the utilisation of digital literacy centres was usually low.
He said the curriculum for learning at the centres was targeted at literate, illiterate and semi-literate, for them to learn and be digitally equipped.
Each centre is equipped with computers, scanners, printers and other digital facilities.