Arrangements are underway for the establishment of the Cisco Networking Academy at the Sokoto State University, Sokoto.
A Statement by the varsity spokesperson, Zayyanu Shehu, said the Director, Entrepreneurship Development Centre of the University, Dr. Aliyah Adamu Ahmed, disclosed this at a one-day interactive session between the centre and Cisco Partnership Programme, which was held on Monday, at the Conference Room of Inuwa Abdulkadir Library.
Dr. Aliyah said the Cisco Networking Academy is a global information technology and cybersecurity education, designed specifically to partner with institutions around the world to empower all kinds of people with career opportunities and skills needed for them to sail smoothly in the 21st century.
She said the centre for Entrepreneurship Development is fully committed and prepared to equip the students of the university with all the required skills that would develop them to be employers of labour, through its series of skills acquisition programmes, rather than relying on the government for white-collar jobs.
In his address, the Northwest Cisco Networking Academy manager, Mr. Olarinde Onaolapo said the Academy is Cisco’s largest and longest-running Corporate Social Responsibility education programme aimed at powering an inclusive future for students and teachers around the globe.
He said the academy also transformed the lives of several learners, educators, and communities through the power of technology, education, and career opportunities. Thereafter, the Manager called for the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two organizations, which according to him, would bring so many benefits to the two parties involved.
Speaking earlier, the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Bashir Garba, said they would carefully study the Memorandum of Understanding and come up with other areas that the university needs partnership with Cisco.
Prof. Garba, who was represented by the university Librarian, Dr. Ibrahim Muhammad Maidamma Furfuri, expressed the Institution’s readiness to provide all the required ICT facilities and support for the establishment of the Academy.
