@abdul01 wrote:
Hello guys, I have been thinking of something recently, especially since we have a new Government in Nigeria now, which is:
How can we pressure our Govt. (both federal & state level) to take Information Technology serious, invest heavily in it, and make them understand that this is the next oyel?
Let's start with Lagos state:
We need to make the government realize that the next potential we have after oil is in IT and that this is a major way of solving many of the social-economic problems we are facing like unemployment, security challenges, traffic gridlock, etc.
Some easy steps to actualize this is:
1. The Lagos state government should invest heavily in Yaba, and make sure everything that's required for a tech biz to thrive there is provided, such as electricity, good roads, less traffic grid lock, fast n reliable internet connection, etc.
This will enable more tech companies to spring up, and or move there, thereby boosting its economy & turning it into a real Silicon Valley or Bangalore.
This will also enable foriegn IT companies like Microsoft, Facebook, Google n co to have REAL physical presence in Nigeria just like in India.
2. The Lagos state government should appoint a young, experienced and germane IT individual as its ICT commissioner (someone like a Bosun Tijani or a Mark Essien) who will replicate and consolidate what is currently going on in the IT private sector into the Lagos state government, such that we would have a tech ministry that's as vibrant and active as LASTMA or LAWMA that would be building tech centers, sponsoring start-ups, sponsoring and organizing coding challenges in secondary schools, etc.
In summary, this agency would be like a CC-HUB in the government.3. The Lagos state government should ensure that practical and modern computer skills are taught in Secondary schools and ensure that at least 1/3 of every Secondary school leaver can program in a modern language like Python.
A way to achieve this is by employing young programmers to teach computer science and programming in secondary schools, and also organize hackathons in secondary schools, sponsor programming conferences in Secondary schools and make these kids to start thinking of how they can be the next Mark Zuckeburg even before entering the university.
Please let's add our points on how to actualize this. Remember we are starting with Lagos state first. I hope if this thread makes it, we can invite the governor himself into this forum for a AMA series.
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