The NCC Urges Nigerian Youths To Utilize The Social Media For Job Creation

As the unemployment situation bites harder in the country, the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) has advised the youths to use the social media as an alternative for job creation to reduce the strain on over dependence on white collar jobs.

It’s very common to see many graduates migrate from rural areas to the city, thereby causing congestion. Nevertheless, with the advent of social networking sites a lot of people make a sizable income from home by simply targeting the right audience on any platform. Prof. Umar Dambatta, the Executive Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NCC gave this charge in Calabar, Cross River state, during the commencement of a two-day workshop on ‘Information and Communication Technology Utilisation and Sustainability for South-South zone.

The workshop was organized by the Universal Service Provision Fund, a subset of the NCC. Represented by Mr. Kelechi Nwankwo, the Head of Strategy, USPF, he said that unemployed youths could drive traffic to their product or boost via social media by simply advertising their wares online.

I suppose that this is a welcome idea, seeing that the world is becoming digital and more people are choosing to shop online other than the traditional method of going to the streets. In this regard, he noted that online advertisements are quite affordable to an extent for business owners to afford the cost. He expressed his displeasure towards the use of social media to flaunt occasion outfits or to make an announcement of a trending rumour.  He said:

‘Not just social media events, but as a tool for business and to make money and grow the national economy. We will be building capacity for people on how to develop applications that they can use for profitable business’

The Head of Strategy also noted the use of hate speeches on social networking sites, which should be discouraged. The social media is a community where people from far and wide meet and instead of causing an uproar because of differences in tribe and religion, it could be a great avenue to drive business sales. On this platform, Mr. Kelechi noted that the cyberspace will be sanitized to make it a peaceful atmosphere for the users. As you know, there are cyber bullies and warlords who are cheered and in fact, they have active followers and supporters. He said:

‘There is a cybercrime law, which is being operated by the NCC and the office of the national security adviser, which is being managed by the latter. There are several things people want but if they are not in the law or in the Act, there is nothing one can do.’

He said further that people should be informed on the usage of social media- it is not an avenue to spread hate speeches and promote vile languages. For this reason, people need self-regulation for social media activities. The eight-point agenda is also in view to promote innovation, investment, competition, and empowerment as a guide for 21^st-century entrepreneurs.

It’s high time, Nigerian youths used the social media to drive targeted traffic to their business. The world is changing and to remain relevant, you must be flexible enough to absorb the trend.