Mal. Suleiman Isah, the Hon. Commissioner for Communication Technology and Digital Economy in Niger State, was at the Hill-Top Creative Arts Foundation (HCAF), in the evening of yesterday, to announce a package for the digital communication needs of our members and the Foundation as well as the public.
The package is to facilitate our creative productions, increase members’ virtual access to the world for opportunities, increase the ICT capacity of our members and the public who may wish to access services and training there. ICT and Technology, including Innovation are essential aspects of HCAF activities and categories of HIASFEST. The package is a big boost to the HIASFEST Residency Programme begining in 2024, in terms of provision of ICT facilities to national and international guests expected to flock into the arena. His gesture is coming to HCAF when he is barely three months into office.
Of course, he has been a long time associate and guest mentor at HCAF. His TEDx provided huge opportunity in public speaking, spoken word and organisational competence of members like Hafsat Abdullahi, Miracle Attah, Peter Kwange, Musa Yunus and many others who volunteered in that event. Mal. Suleiman’s visitations to the old headquarters of HCAF when he was a private citizen, to speak to mentees on photography, ICT and Digital Communication helped in many ways to strengthen the build of strong perspectives, confidence and philosophy of life in our young mentees. We hadn’t gone to him yet, as a new Commissioner, but has decided to come on his own to take us to the next level of the continental art platform we are erecting in Minna. This is unprecedented in our efforts towards art development. It is beautiful to have people think for the Nigerian child and execute it, promptly.
Similarly, the Hon. Commissioner has directed a group of ICT experts to use HCAF as a point for inaugurating a start-up programme for young Nigerians towards developing ICT skills for self-reliance. The Commissioner was not done until he promised to create a Language Lab for self-study of selected languages using digital facilities at HCAF.
HCAF feels great and grateful that people of influence are voluntarily coming to help us grow our vision for Niger State and Nigeria without any prompting. I reported here that, before Mal. Suleiman was sworn in as Commissioner, he had called me to make inquiries about the availability of ICT facility at HCAF.
Present during the visit were some members of the BOT, Hill-Top Model School Old boys and Girls, Mohammed Yaman and Aisha Abdulkadir. The Principal and her Vice Principal were around too.