Digital Innovative Forum unveils skill-up programs, scholarships in Uyo

By Imó Etim
Digital Innovative Forum (DIF), and Ephafresh Foundation International, an offshoot of GT Technologies Limited have inaugurated a tech-based innovative training program in Uyo, to empower youths with sellable digital skills as a means to self-reliance.
DIF, alongside Ephafresh Foundation which was unveiled in December 2023 at a well-attended event in Uyo, aims to contribute meaningfully to the economic and social growth of youths through well-thought-out empowerment programs and offers.
Prince Godwin Tommy, the progenitor of the project, told our reporter on Sunday, June 23, 2024, in Uyo that it has always been his dream to see more youths desert the stage of idleness to that of innovation and skills that would stand them out in any given society, expressing elation for the birth of the Ephafresh Foundation, and DIF, as that which will avail him the needed platform to expand on a dream conceived many years ago through GT Technologies Limited.
He acknowledged God as his inspiration and cited his undying zeal for making men, and the urge to lift more Akwa Ibom youths out of the “urgent 2k, and My leader, my leader” syndrome, as the underlying drive to float the program, pledging to reposition more youths to become self-reliant.
The digital technology and Public Relations expert highlighted skills like; Artificial Intelligence(AI), Digital Marketing, User Interface/Experience (UI/UX), Cloud Computing, Web design and development, Graphics and designs, Animations, Data Analysis, Digital Publishing, and printing, and Content creation and development, as highly sought-after skills DIF was ready to impart to young people.
DIF is also set to offer scholarships to indigent but intelligent students studying Nursing, Medical Laboratory Technology, Pharmacy, Surveying, Architecture, Building Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Agricultural Engineering, and law, as well as an Article writing scholarship contest for the Faculty of Communication and Media Studies and in Journalism.
Tommy charged youths to see it as a lifetime opportunity to enroll in the program, adding that DIF was also well-positioned to help students intending to study abroad have access to student loans that would enable them to study and work abroad and repay such loans within 5-10 years after completion of studies with a 1.1% interest rate.
“Aside from the skill-up programs, study and work abroad scheme, DIF is also determined to see that young people can acquire land through DIF Luxury Ville Project which offers affordable landed properties at N1.850m a plot, located at Mbak – Idu Road, Uyo where a plot of 500 square meters goes for two million, five hundred thousand naira (N2.5m), a with a Power of Attorney, Survey plan, and Community Development Levy,” he stressed.
During the launch on December 23, 2023, in Uyo, Pastor Ab Isong of The Citadel Church who chaired the event lauded the initiative, describing it as “a strategic effort in fostering the digitally driven economy in Akwa Ibom”, urging the people to become worthy ambassadors of it by spreading the message for more people to see the need to acquire digital skills for self-development.
A keynote address on the topic: Digital Communications and Innovative Solutions to the Double Jeopardy of Poverty and Almajirism in Nigeria: The DIF Paradigm, was presented by Umoh Joshua, a Corporate Communications and PR expert who charged the audience on the many roles Communication and Innovative Technology plays in curbing the menace of begging in the society.
Eduek Bassey, a 400-level student of Law at the University of Uyo, also spoke on the opportunities and challenges availed by digital solutions in the judicial system, adding that more courts in the world were fast embracing digital technologies in the administration of justice.
Meanwhile, DIF bestowed on some of her protégés, Mr. Robert Usen of Dueways Creations Limited, and Mr. Unyime Mathew of Umeks Printing Press with awards of excellence performance in contributing to digital and innovative growth in areas of printing and creation in the State.
The Awardees, Mr Usen, and Mr. Mathew spoke glowingly of Prince Tommy, describing him as a gifted man who believes in excellence, and a grandfather in the Innovative world. They appreciated GT Technologies Limited for availing them of the free platform many years back to leverage on and climb up the rungs.
DIF welcomes partnerships with the Government, Corporate organizations, and well-spirited individuals to expand the program to accommodate more people and provide wider self-employment opportunities to the teeming youths.