AI Multimedia Academy tackles unemployment through skills acquisition

AI Multimedia Academy is a multimedia academy capacity development skills acquisition centre. It has engaged in training lots of youths in the past eight years in Graphic Design, Animation, Cinematography, Editing, Visual Marketing and Interactive Web  Design.  Ademola Akitoye, the company’s Chief Executive Officer explains the importance of  AI Multimedia in this interview with OpenLife’s Isaac Ngumah

  How have you been able to tackle unemployment through your organization?

We recognise that the major challenge in our environment is unemployment. Lots of  graduates  probably with  BSc  and Diploma degrees find it difficult to get jobs.

This is because of due to lack of capacity. They don’t have that skill that is necessary in this 21st century. So, what we have been able to do over the years is to retrain many of them. Those trained by us are doing very well. Some have been gainfully employed while others are on their own.

Our trained individuals are in multi international organizations. Such organizations include entertainment, publishing, advertising agencies, television production etc.

How did come about the idea of training youth?

When I graduated some years back,  
I worked briefly with a Canadian firm. That created opportunity for me to observe a skill gap in multimedia and I have always love multimedia.  I also love camera and  graphics. So,  I went for additional training outside the country. Because I want to impact all my skills to the upcoming youths, I set up AI Multimedia Academy in 2011.

How did you source for funds to start?
Funding for small and medium enterprise is a major problem not only me but others. But what I did was to sell the only car I had. I used the proceeds to buy a high grade laptop and other gadgets. Then I started as one man. Eventually, we had another person and the number increased.

What are the challenges so far?
The challenges are enormous. We spend a lot on power supply. The second is accessing funds.  Astronomical interest rate is discouraging. To access a loan in the bank, you need collateral. They are very stringent.

 Apart from Lagos, do you have service outlets elsewhere?
Our mission is to make learning easier for youths and  train as many as possible in the area of multimedia.  Right now, we have  only one branch in Lagos. We are hoping to expand to other parts of Lagos and Abuja. People who need our services over there have been calling.  It is  our dream have outlets in Nigeria and beyond

How many students have you trained?
They are much.  I don’t have all the statistics. However, we have trained many students. 70 percent of our graduates are positively engaged in gainful employment, partnership and collaboration.