…targets tech traineeships, international skills exchange, innovation hubs
In a strategic move to equip Nigerian youths with globally competitive technology skills and create new pathways to employment and entrepreneurship, President and Chairman of the Global Bridge Organization (GBO), Jace Owie, has launched the Jace Owie Initiative (JOI), a youth empowerment programme focused on technology, innovation and international skills development.
The initiative, unveiled this week, is designed to bridge the gap between Nigeria’s growing youth population and emerging opportunities in the global digital economy through technology traineeships, international exposure and the establishment of innovation hubs across the country.
The Jace Owie Initiative will operate as a flagship youth development arm of the Global Bridge Organization, formally known as the Global Relations Foundation, with a proposed programme of engagement involving state governments and international partners across the United States, Canada and Europe.
Under its three-pronged strategy, the initiative will provide intensive training for young Nigerians in high-demand technology fields, including Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Cybersecurity, Cloud Computing, Software Engineering, Product Design, Blockchain and Digital Marketing.
The programme is expected to focus on equipping participants with practical, industry-aligned skills that can enhance their employability, promote self-reliance and enable them to establish technology-driven businesses.
A key component of the initiative is the proposed foreign traineeship and skills exchange programme, through which selected high-performing participants will have opportunities for exposure to international work environments, advanced technology ecosystems and hands-on industry experience.
According to the organisers, the programme, to be developed in collaboration with international partners, is intended to enable Nigerian youths to acquire globally competitive skills and apply the knowledge gained to local innovation, enterprise development and job creation.
The initiative also plans to establish innovative research hubs across partner states, providing young talents with access to mentorship, research facilities, internet infrastructure, startup support and linkages to seed funding.
The hubs are envisaged as incubation centres where young innovators can develop ideas, undertake research and transform their technological skills into viable businesses and practical solutions to societal challenges.
Speaking on the vision behind the initiative, Owie said Nigeria’s youth population represented a major resource for national development but required deliberate investment in skills, tools and opportunities to realise its potential.
“Nigeria’s greatest resource is not oil, it is its youth. What we need is a bridge — a Global Bridge — that connects that raw talent to global skills, global tools, and global opportunities,” he said.
He added that the initiative would seek to build that bridge across states, enabling young Nigerians not only to seek employment but also to create wealth and generate jobs.
Owie stressed that collaboration with state governments would be critical to the initiative’s sustainability, noting that the organisation was opening formal partnership discussions with interested administrations to develop youth empowerment frameworks, establish innovation hubs and integrate technology traineeships into existing youth development programmes.
The organisers said prospective state government partners, stakeholders and other interested institutions had been invited to engage with the organisation ahead of proposed memoranda of understanding and the announcement of rollout schedules for the first phase.
The launch of the Jace Owie Initiative marks a new phase in the Global Bridge Organization’s stated commitment to youth development, education, innovation and international cooperation, with technology positioned as a vehicle for expanding economic opportunities for Nigerian youths.
