By Patience Ogbodo,  Correspondent, Bauchi

The world today is a global village, no little thanks to Information and Communications Technology. The craze to “belong” among those that have it has set nations and peoples hobnobbing even with those they would have used the proverbial long spoon in dining with. And the reason is not far fetched, seeing that developed countries rely on ICT for their advancement and every sector of the economy is driven with technology.

Not taking it serious is condemning oneself to slow pace of development, if at all.

In an effort to ensure that Bauchi people acquire adequate knowledge on information technology, a non-governmental organisation, Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), has commenced senstization training for local government staff in the state.

CITAD which is supported by RTI/LEAD, a USAID sponsored project, works in four champion local government areas of the state with the aim of sensitizing local government staff and other stakeholders, especially the chief security officers in various communities on the use of Information and Communications Technology for effective delivery.

Other objectives of the programme is also to increase  the capacity of local organizations by strengthening the organizational and service capacity, and increasing transparency of local government operations.

Speaking during the sanitization workshop which was organized for local government staff in Ningi and Dass Local Government Areas,  the programme officer of CITAD, Isa Garba said  the training is to equip the participants on MC – word, Excel, internet utilization, and other applications that complement effective carrying out of the daily activities of local government staff.

Garba said: “As you know the world is a global village, the training will equip them as well as prepare them for the training that will be coming up after the sensitization in the next two to three weeks.

“Been a sponsored programme by USAID through RTI/LEAD  which has been  operating in four champion local government areas in Bauchi State, namely Bauchi, Ningi, Katagum and Dass.”

While stressing that the training on ICT is particularly for the local government staff of the four councils, Garba revealed that it may be extended to other local government areas depending on the decision of RTI/LEAD that supports them.

“The first phase is to sensitize them on the theory aspect so that they can perform better in the practical training  that will come up soon; we will organize three months training for them after the sensitization training.

”He then appealed  to the participants to keep pace with all the presentations, and hoped that it would be an eye opener and free them from any fears they may have had about learning and practising computer knowledge. He expressed confidence that beneficiaries of the training programme would make proper utilization of the skills to be acquired during the seminar.