Winners of FG’s 3MTT cohort 2 get N800,000 cash prize in Kwara
An eight hundred thousand naira cash prize has been splashed on the winners of the Kwara State Government’s 3 Million Technical Talents (3MTT) initiative.
At a graduation and hackathon session for the 3MTT Cohort 2 organised at the weekend, the Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq while speaking, said that the agenda is to promote digital literacy, innovation, and economic growth in the state.
Kwara was among the first states to key into the program initiated by the federal government through the Ministry of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy.
After the first set of graduates under 3MTT cohort 1, it launched the cohort 2 intensive registration and sensitization drive across the 16 local government areas of the state, through the office of the Special Assistant to the Governor on Digital Innovations, Hon Kayode Ishola, and with the theme, “Driving Tech Innovation in Kwara”.
Top attendees included the State Commissioner for Planning and Economic Development Hon Aliyu Kora Sabi; Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development Hajia Sa’adatu Moddibo Kawu represented by Mallam Abdulrasaq Oloru; SA on Digital Innovations Kayode Ishola; and Community Manager for 3MTT Cohort Ibrahim Zulkifli.
READ ALSO: 100 farmers trained in small ruminant production, crop residue processing in Kwara
The programme featured various segments such as a panel discussion, a raffle game for tech creatives, and a hackathon product demo.
The winner of the hackathon went home with 500,000, while the first and second runners-up got 200,000 and 100,000 cash rewards, respectively.
The panellists were Prof. Oluwakemi Christiana Abikoye, a lecturer at the Department of Computer Science, University of Ilorin; Dr. Abdulrauf Uthman, Dean, Faculty of Computer Science and IT. Al-Hikmah University; and Executive Director, TruORGANIC Initiative, Engr Olaide Olawuwo; among others.
Hon Aliyu, in his remarks, said the digital-driven initiative will create employment opportunities for youth, check insecurity, enhance efficiency in civil service, and curb corruption within the system.
“This type of innovation is commendable, and I think it should be adopted in our local government areas and our political system. I hope our youth will leverage this opportunity in the tech world to learn and make a good impact,” the Commissioner said.
Ishola, in his introductory remarks, said the state government provided laptops to deserving tech talents across learning centres to ease and support learning and launched the Kwara Digital Economy Portal to connect them to more opportunities.
He commended the governor for his government’s commitment to digital transformation and how he is setting the pace in the tech industry.
“Today marks yet another significant milestone in our journey toward positioning Kwara State as a leading hub for technological innovation and excellence,” he said.
“I thank Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, our visionary leader, for his unwavering commitment to youth empowerment and passion for driving innovation that has laid the foundation for the strides we are celebrating today.
“Under His Excellency’s guidance, Kwara State is steadily becoming a beacon of digital transformation and a model for other states to emulate. For context, Kwara State is the only state that held an elaborate graduation program and Hackathon for graduating fellows of cohort 1.”
