The Nation Newspaper

Tag: ICT

  • 470 Ogun teachers trained in ICT

    470 Ogun teachers trained in ICT

    No fewer than 470 secondary school teachers in Ogun State have been trained in the CISCO academy organised information technology essentials for a train-the-trainer programme.

    Another 55 instructors have also been trained by the academy and they are now teaching in the various ICT polytechnics in the state.

    Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun made this known at the Cisco African Academy Safari Conference 2013 held in Abeokuta, advising Nigerian youths and the participants to be more innovative in order to develop software needed to solve basic challenges hindering maximal use of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) in the country.

    He also enjoined stakeholders in the ICT sector to assist the youths to unlock their potentials.

    Represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr Taiwo Adeoluwa, a lawyer, Governor Amosun underscored the need for Nigerian youths to be ICT compliant in order to be active members of the “global village which the whole world has become, pointing out that virtually all human activities are now driven by information technology. In the same vein, the Senior Special Assistant (SSA), to the Governor on ICT, Mr. Bunmi Adebayo, pointed out that the world has turned out to be a “global village” whereby the people can unlock their potentials through the use of information technology and become relevant in the world at large.

    According to him, the Senator Ibikunle Amosun believes that knowledge in information technology remained the only means of making any individual an active member of the “global village,” assuring that government would continue to do the needful to enhance human capital development in the State through ICT knowledge.

    Adebayo, in a statement signed by the Information Officer of the Gateway ICT, Mr. Ademola Orunbon, emphasised that educational development occupies a prominent position in the mission to rebuild, recalling that the highest singular allocation of the state’s 2013 budget was devoted to the sector.

    “This government will continue to lay emphasis on youth empowerment and development through the use of ICT. This explains why it devoted the largest single allocation of its 2013 budget to the education sector as it believes that investment in the youth today is a move to secure their tomorrow,” Adebayo noted.

    In his remarks, CISCO’s Regional Manager corporate Affairs, Mr. Alifie Hamid disclosed that out of the five institutions that submitted proposals to be appointed as the academy support designated centre for English West and Central Africa, only two, one of which is the South West Resource Centre were given approval.

    He advised the participants to make good use of the knowledge imparted to them, emphasising that anyone without requisite ICT knowledge would be an outcast in the global village.

     

  • 470 Ogun teachers trained in ICT

    470 Ogun teachers trained in ICT

    No fewer than 470 secondary school teachers in Ogun State have been trained in the CISCO academy organised information technology essentials for a train-the-trainer programme.

    Another 55 instructors have also been trained by the academy and they are now teaching in the various ICT polytechnics in the state.

    Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun made this known at the Cisco African Academy Safari Conference 2013 held in Abeokuta, advising Nigerian youths and the participants to be more innovative in order to develop software needed to solve basic challenges hindering maximal use of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) in the country.

    He also enjoined stakeholders in the ICT sector to assist the youths to unlock their potentials.

    Represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr Taiwo Adeoluwa, a lawyer, Governor Amosun underscored the need for Nigerian youths to be ICT compliant in order to be active members of the “global village which the whole world has become, pointing out that virtually all human activities are now driven by information technology. In the same vein, the Senior Special Assistant (SSA), to the Governor on ICT, Mr. Bunmi Adebayo, pointed out that the world has turned out to be a “global village” whereby the people can unlock their potentials through the use of information technology and become relevant in the world at large.

    According to him, the Senator Ibikunle Amosun believes that knowledge in information technology remained the only means of making any individual an active member of the “global village,” assuring that government would continue to do the needful to enhance human capital development in the State through ICT knowledge.

    Adebayo, in a statement signed by the Information Officer of the Gateway ICT, Mr. Ademola Orunbon, emphasised that educational development occupies a prominent position in the mission to rebuild, recalling that the highest singular allocation of the state’s 2013 budget was devoted to the sector.

    “This government will continue to lay emphasis on youth empowerment and development through the use of ICT. This explains why it devoted the largest single allocation of its 2013 budget to the education sector as it believes that investment in the youth today is a move to secure their tomorrow,” Adebayo noted.

    In his remarks, CISCO’s Regional Manager corporate Affairs, Mr. Alifie Hamid disclosed that out of the five institutions that submitted proposals to be appointed as the academy support designated centre for English West and Central Africa, only two, one of which is the South West Resource Centre were given approval.

    He advised the participants to make good use of the knowledge imparted to them, emphasising that anyone without requisite ICT knowledge would be an outcast in the global village.

  • ICT centres for pry schools

    Aphilanthropist, Engr Bolaji Ajimotokan, has donated Information Technology Centres (ICT) to two primary schools in the Agege suburb of Lagos. They are Olusanya Primary School and Irepodun Primary School Agege.

    Some days later, he led a team of youths to a neighbourhood football competition where winners went home with mouth-watering prizes.

    He established a foundation in September 2012,Ajimotokan Foundation, that has since been engaged in community projects. He promised to improve the living standard of Agege residents with programmes for youths where they will be taught skills in photography; videography; soap making and film editing.

    Besides,he plans to conduct free breast and cervical cancer screening for women in his local government area this year.

    Ajimotokan, who said he will be contending for a seat in the Lagos State House of Assembly in the next Lagos State elections, said his actions were borne out of the situation he met in Agege in 2010 when he came back to the country.

    “I am an Agege son. I was born and brought up in the area and know what life is here. That is why the youth of this axis are my greatest assets and I will do all I can to uplift them and make them believe they can have a better life by assisting them in applying for visa lotteries, like I have been doing in the past. That is why I they need a representative in the House of Assembly”, he said.

    Other past programmes he carried out include: distribution of educational materials to primary school pupils, hosting a children’s party during the yuletide season; having a jumbo market where more than 500 cripples, less privileged and blind in the suburb were given rice and other food stuff as well as a financial empowerment and poverty alleviation largesse to some residents of Agege.

     

     

  • FCTA establishes new schools

    The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has established nine new Junior and two Senior Secondary schools in the last two years to accommodate the influx of pupils into the territory.

    The FCT Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed said this in Abuja.

    Mohammed said that the ever-increasing population of Nigerians from all parts of the country trooping into Abuja has made the FCT Administration to expand its educational facilities to take care of their children and wards.

    The minister reiterated that the constant demographic changes is over stretching the infrastructure and facilities in the Federal Capital Territory and that his administration in consonance with the transformational dreams of President Goodluck Jonathan has been striving to meet up with such onerous challenge.

    According to him, the FCT Administration during the same period has construct six new prototype of a storey building of eight classrooms with toilets, office and store in four basic schools across the territory.

    The minister revealed that his administration has been able to complete 1,215 classrooms for basic schools in all the six area councils of the territory.

    He disclosed that the administration has also built six classrooms, seven staff quarters, landscaping, boys hostel, fence, drainages and sporting facilities at the School for the Handicapped, in Jabi, Abuja.

    Mohammed further disclosed that during the period, his administration was able to build two staff quarters, playground, landscaping and drainages at School for the Blind, Jabi-Abuja.

    “Two new Science Laboratories were constructed and furnished and three were fully renovated at the Senior Secondary Schools; while 40 Science and Intro Tech Laboratories were completed at Basic Education Level,” he added.

    His words: “Eighty sets of furniture were provided for Primary and Junior Secondary Schools while five libraries were constructed and furnished in Junior Secondary Schools across the territory”.

    The minister stated that 1,308,780 pupils/students textbooks and instructional materials were distributed to Basic Education Schools this year alone.

    Senator Mohammed also stated that the FCT Administration has set-up a Sustainable Energy Resource Centre in Karu, a suburb of Abuja.

    Apart from the completion of District Library at Bwari and Teachers Development Centre at Kwali, he further revealed that 1,697, Junior Secondary School (JSS) and Senior Secondary School (SSS) teachers were trained in ICT during the same period under review.

    The minister noted that his administration has provided borehole as well as electricity installations at the Abuja University of Technology, Abaji (AUTA) site.

    ”At the FCT College of Education, Zuba, Early Child Care Education Block; Youth Friendly Centre have been completed, and ICT Centre established”, Senator Mohammed stressed.”

  • IT body: Indigenous engineers lost in telecoms revolution

    IT body: Indigenous engineers lost in telecoms revolution

    MANY indigenous engineers lost out in the telecoms revolution that brought over $25 billion foreign direct investment (FDI) to the country.

    The revolution, which was unlocked by the liberalisation of the sector by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, also saw the provision and installation of massive information communication technology (ICT) infrastructure with security implications for the country being handled by foreigners, the Nigerian Computer Society (NCS), has said.

    President of the body, Sir Demola Aladekomo, who spoke with The Nation in Lagos, warned that if care is not taken, the body could lose out again in the ongoing banking sector reform revolution that has thrown up a lot of opportunities in the production of cards, supply of point of sale (PoS) terminals and other fields.

    “What I mean is that the people that implemented the telecoms revolution in Nigeria were not NCS members. If they were members, they were at the periphery. We did not tackle that industry as a society. I don’t know the number that worked with Airtel, MTN, and these are huge IT infrastrucutre that all have massive security implications for Nigeria. They were largely implemented by foreigners, Nigerians hardly got involved. Yes they may have Nigerains as CTOs (chief technical officers) but look at the people under them.

    The CTO reports to South Africa, India and only God knows.

    “The local content did not benefit and there is always this multiplier effect on technology,” the president said.

    According to him, there would have been a tremendous job spin-off from the installation of these infrsastructure if they had been undertaken by indigenous engineers. He berated Nigeria’s predilection for importation.

    He said: “Imagine, we are saying we want to create five million jobs and one million jobs in the next five years. That revolution would have created nothing less than a million jobs for Nigerians. But what did you find? A lot of the technical are done in other countries and imported into the country. They were just downloaded, even servers and switches, they were all done over there and shipped into the country. But if it had been done by a local company, it would have employed people to do all those implementations. So, our argument is that we cannot keep losing out of these revolutions.

    He lamented:“The banking revolution, if care is not taken (we may lose out) in the manufacturing and devices. But where are the companies doing it? We are just importing it, we are consumers. How many countries can deploy more than 2000 PoS in six months? Not many counries, I can tell you for free.

    “In the next three years, we are going to import one million PoS terminals. Those terminals are not being assembled in Nigeria. We say we want to create jobs, how do we create jobs if we keep missing out of revolutions and if keep being an importing nation?”

     

  • Chams, others to assist new ICT entrepreneurs

    A group of firms are set to assist fresh entrepreneurs in the sector to grow their business.

    Already, seven teams have been shortlisted from a pool of 160 teams that applied for the cash.

    Chief Executive Officer, TechnoVision, Tomi Davies, told The Nation that funding is fundamental to the success of young people who have business ideas, adding that this informed the decision of 14 entrepreneurs to invest funds for youths to build their business.

    “We are not just investing money, we are also investing our time to ensure that they succeed. We are going to guide the team, monitor them and make our networks available to them so that they can grow. The whole idea is to grow entrepreneurship in the country. Another round of pitching will be done again in September. I can guarantee that no angel will invest less than N1 million on the team. That is the minimum. Any of the angels could invest N10million or even N100 million,” he said.

    An angel is a venture capital fund investor.

    He added that some of the angels belong to private equity venture capital firms.

    He said the plan is complementary to that of the Federal Ministry of Communications Technology which has launched the Information Technology Developers Entrepreneurship Accelerator (iDEA) Incubation Centre.

    “We must support the Federal Government to grow entrepreneurship in the ICT sector. This is our response to that. The whole idea is to provide seed fund to entrepreneurs to start up,” he said.

    iDEA is anchored on the huge potential the software segment of the industry hold for the economy both in employment generation and value addition to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the nation.

  • Minister, Dabiri-Erewa seek support for girl education in ICT

    Minister of Science and Technology Prof.Ita Okon Bassey Ewa has called for the education of girls in information communication technology (ICT) so that they could actualise their dream and compete with their counterparts in other parts of the world.

    The minister, who spoke at the Girls ICT Day celebration convened by a group, Women in Technology (WITIN) in Lagos, pledged his ministry’s support for girl-child education in building science and technology innovation so that they can achieve their goals.

    House of Representatives Committee Chairman on Diaspora, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, said the event, which was set aside by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), would help develop girls in the world of ICT and prepare them for future leadership position.

    She promised to liaise with the chairman, House Committee on Science and Technology to meet with WITIN so that the two could synergise to support the girls child initiative in ICT.

    She charged girls to be focused in their dream to achieve their set goals, adding that the girl-child education initiative should be encouraged at all levels.

    The President of WITIN, Mrs Martha Alade, said the workshop was aimed at encouraging girls into ICT to compete favourably with their counterparts in other parts of the world.

    She, however, said only 23 per cent of women has access to internet in sub-Sahara Africa, adding that WITIN plans to go to the rural areas to educate people about ICT.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Minister urges girls to embrace ICT career

    Minister urges girls to embrace ICT career

    The Minister of Communication Technology, Mrs Omobola Johnson, has urged  girls to embrace careers in Information Communications Technology (ICT) to bridge the career gap between the male and female gender in ICT.
    Mrs Johnson who made this call at a ministerial programme to celebrate the Girls in ICT Day in Abuja in line with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) global advocacy to get more girls into ICT, stressed that despite the advances recorded in ICT globally, there are not many women in ICT due to the perception that it’s for geeks’ or for males.
    The Minister added that the Ministry is encouraging girls to come into ICT in order to erase that perception.
    ‘’When I was studying engineering I was one of five girls in a class of about 80. My daughter has just graduated in an engineering degree and she was also one of about five or six girls, so nothing has really changed in 30 years, ’’ Johnson noted.
    She decried the fact that despite the growing advocacy for women to embrace technology across the globe, nothing has really changed and many women are still not embracing the power of technology.
     ‘’We need to ask ourselves why and help remove all the barriers militating against girls and women embracing technology. Some of the barriers limiting women has to do with lack of support and encouragement and the Ministry will provide the necessary support by encouraging women to embrace careers in ICTs,’’ she stated.
    The International Telecommunications Union ITU in 2010 set aside the fourth Thursday of April every year for the celebration of Girls in ICT. The Girls in ICT Day is an international initiative, backed by ITU Member States in Plenipotentiary Resolution 70 (Guadalajara, 2010), to create a global environment that empowers and encourages girls and young women to consider careers in ICT.
    A statement made available by the Special Adviser on Media to the Minister, Efem Nkanga disclosed that the Minister invited the best girls in Sciences in their various schools to the one week programme of the Ministry in order to encourage and expose them to do more in sciences and increase the percentage of women and girls in ICTs.
    The girls during  the one week programme were exposed to the power of technology and its impact on development. They met with several female engineers and interacted with many role models during the duration of the programme that increased their enthusiasm for the ICT profession.Earlier, the permanent Secretary Dr Henry Akpan had flagged off the programme by encouraging the girls to take advantage of the opportunity provided by the Ministry as they commenced the programme to celebrate ‘’Girls in ICT Day to learn and excel.
    In his closing remarks, the Director Planning and Research, Mr Wole Edun on behalf of the  Minister and the Permanent Secretary thanked the students , teachers and the various schools represented for taking time out to grace the programme.
    The programme was well attended by the management and staff of the Ministry, representatives of the Nigerian Communications Commission, the Managing Director of NITEL, Hajia Zainab iiyasu-Saab, teachers and students of various schools in Abuja

  • Oyo trains 500 female workers on ICT

    THE Oyo State govern-ment has through the office of the First Lady trained 500 female civil servants on Information Communi-cation Technology (ICT).

    The training was to improve their work performances and expose them to the abounding opportunities on the internet.

    Speaking at the graduation ceremony, which coincided with her 54th birthday at the weekend the First Lady, Mrs. Florence Ajimobi, said it was time for women to claim their rightful positions through acquisition of knowledge.

    She said: “These are projects I hold very close to my heart and I enjoin you all today that rather than give me personal gift for my birthday, I would appreciate it very much if everyone could make a contribution towards any of these projects so that together we can make a joint impact on our people.”

    She solicited additional support not only for the ICT centre but also for the Educate a Rural Child Project geared at bridging the gap between children educated in the urban and rural areas of the state.

     

     

  • ‘OGITECH remains hqtrs of Ogun ICT poly’

    The decision of the Ogun State government to make the Ogun State Institute of Technology (OGITECH), Igbesa, Ogun State the main campus of the four ICT (information and Communication Technology) polytechnics in the state remains sacrosanct; therefore, the budget of the other three polytechnics should go through OGITECH before being finally presented to the state for approval, the government has announced.

    This was reaffirmed by the Ogun State Commissioner for Education Segun Odubela, at the matriculation of the new intakes held at the institution last Tuesday.

    A panel setup by the Governor Ibikunle Amosun-led Ogun State government to review tertiary education in Ogun two years ago, had recommended that OGITECH be the headquarters since it was far ahead of the other three polytechnics in the development of ICT.

    Odubela said: “Today, we have no regret over that decision. We visited the four ICT polytechnics and in all fairness, OGITECH dwarfed the others with its ICT development. Besides, it also had more of its programmes accredited by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE). The government holds the institution dear, and with its pace of development, we see it as the polytechnic of the future.”

    In his speech, the OGITECH Rector, Prof Godwin Ejodame, noted that the institute has recorded remarkable achievements in the last few years, including the accreditation of 17 courses by the NBTE and recognition by professional bodies.

    He also said seven students of OGITECH received Ogun State slots for the Federal Government scholarship in the 2011\2012 academic session. He added that with the recent accreditation of additional courses, the school now runs six Higher National Diploma (HND) courses, while hoping for more courses before the year ends.

    Ejodame said the proposed collaboration between OGITECH and Greenwich University, UK has reached advanced stage saying “it will soon commence.”

    About 1,462 of National Diploma (ND) and HND took oaths of matriculation.