Google: 'Osinbajo is the reason why we are investing in Nigeria'

Google has described Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as an excellent partner; and one whose support has enabled the organisation record some remarkable success in Nigeria.

The tech giant made the statement when Doron Avni, Google’s Government Affairs and Public Policy Director, led a delegation from Google Global Services in the United States to the State House in Abuja on Thursday, February 13.

Avni said the firm has trained three million Nigerians since its pledge to train 10 million people in Africa.

“Obviously, we have an excellent partner here (Prof. Osinbajo) who has been doing God’s work. It is thanks to leading partners like him that we are able to be helpful in communities in which we operate.

Osinbajo at Silicon Valley, discusses partnership with Google executives (Presidency) ece-auto-gen

“We had made a pledge to train 10 million people in Africa by 2022. I am happy to report to you that so far we have trained more than 5 million people. Most important is the fact that out of those 5 million, 3 million are Nigerians.

“With the collaboration that we have with the Ministry of Education, we have now integrated some of Google’s curriculum on online safety into the school’s curriculum. So, we will be reaching 56 million students in Nigeria this year," he said.

He then added that the company’s target of training up to 10 million people in Africa by 2022 was realisable.

Girl child education

In his remarks, Osinbajo said the federal government will support any partnership that addresses literacy and educational challenges, including the problem of out-of-school children and girl child education in Nigeria.

According to him, “it might help if we begin to look at something more in the area of literacy type skills because really, we are looking at how to expand the whole scope of education, especially education for girls.

“So, the question really is how we can use technology to make it easier for girls, in particular, to go to school, because if we somehow bring education to their doorsteps, it might take care of some of the problems around taking them out of their home environment.

“For us, our education mandate is so crucial,” he added.