The New (or Knowledge) Economy is driven by ICTs, and that means that the level of exposure (or eventual expertise) of individuals to ICTs would be reflected in their degree of participation in the New Economy. There is a strong need to equip young Nigerians with ICT skills that can help them with personal development, career growth and possible global participation. In line with this need, one cannot deny that the present level of exposure is tilted in the favour of young people who attend private schools, or whose parents can afford to pay for computer lessons. While the Lagos Digital Village was established to meet this need by providing free training services for underserved youth (especially beginning from the Ebute Metta area), there is still the need for a massive knowledge campaign that will at least introduce underserved youth to the potential of ICTs.

To this end, we designed (with financial support from Heinrich Boll Foundation) the ICT4All Workshop, with the first edition holding today, March 29 2006, and brought together about forty (40) young people from secondary schools in Ebute Metta and Ajegunle for the purpose of introducing them to computers and Information Technology. In a seminar that featured discussions and practical demonstrations, facilitators trained these young people (in partnership with Paradigm Initiative Nigeria) and discussed the need to follow up with their schools by of setting up (or supporting existing) ICT Clubs that can keep the knowledge relevant and applicable — rather than as a one day encounter.

Moderated by Tope Soremi, the meeting (wich held at the Lagos Digital Village) began with registration and introductions. The day’s work resumed immediately, with a presentation by Seun Olajide titled, What’s in the Box?. The Nigeria Rocks! documetary was next, as it introduced students to some form of work in progress. Ayo Oladejo was next with his No Change Without You! which dealt with the need to move from abusive use of the Internet to productive use. Trust him to touch on the issue of cybercrime and alternative exit points.

After lunch, I spoke with the students about Starting an ICT Club in Your School and also introduced the students to the Nigerian Youth ICT4D Network. It was really exciting for me, noting the interest with which students listened after lunch (not always a good time to make your presentation for fear of nodding heads), and I ended the session in high hope that we can at least start with supporting ICT clubs and help expose these young minds to the opportunities that ICTs provide — thus strategically positioning themselves for personal development, career growth and global participation. Tope had a few questions (including some on the eclipse) and prizes were awarded.

I guess the first question on your mind would be, “what’s NIRA?” I’ll explain: NIRA is the acronym for the Nigerian Internet Registration Association.

After many years of many things for a lack of some better expression (including one of such meetings in Lagos shown in the picture above), some stakeholders met at the Shell Hall of the MUSON Center today, from about 11am till 6pm. The announcement was quite late, and wasn’t helped by the census work-free week preceding the event, but enthusiasts showed up in their numbers — though a far cry from the space available in the hall. The meeting started at 12:12pm, with an interim chairperson in the person of Dr. Chris Nwannena (President of the Nigeria Computer Society) who stood in for Prof. I. S. Diso (Vice Chancellor of the Kano University of Technology, who was delayed in such a way he couldn’t have helped).

Beginning with brief remarks by both the chairman and the Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Prof. Cleopas Angaye, the assembly considered the minutes of the last meeting and adopted after a few changes were made. Then, the major business of the day started — presentation and ratification of the draft constitution. You should have been there to see how Nigerians make intellectual contributions that could make a school consider awarding them a doctorate in a field they are not trained in. One must also acknowledge (among others) the intellectual input of the Internet Service Providers Association of Nigeria (ISPAN) that obviously did their home work well and contributed — along with others — to the success of some knotty technical issues (which is their turf anyway).

The issue of how many people would form a quorom for an annual and special general meeting was debated extensively. The other platform, the eGeneral Meeting (Electronic General Meeting) seemed to have a general appeal and was immediately accepted. At the end of the day (not as short as my blog will make you think) , the general agreement was that 15% of the members should be accepted as the quorom. For specific details, you may wish to become a member and request a copy of the constitution. Membership was also extensively discussed, and two issues caught my attention there — age limits and fees. The issue of fees enjoyed interesting suggestions but I couldn’t stand the idea of leaving young Nigerians under the age of 18 out of the community. After a few minutes of discussions, it was agreed that anyone (regardless of how young — even toddlers ) can become a member of NIRA, as long as there is parental consent for those who are recognised by law as minors.

Things moved fatser towards the end of the meeting, and a great highlight was the election of the members of the Board of Trustees. The nominations (not in any specific order) from the assembly included Prof. I. S. Diso (outgone interim chair), Dr. Nwannena (NCS President), Dr. (Mrs) Osofisan (CPN), Dr. Odeyemi (first PhD holder in Computer Science in Nigeria), Y. Z. Yau (CITAD, Kano), Mrs. Odusote (Ministry of Information and Digitest founder), Mr. Alao (NIG), Shina Badaru (Technology Times), Akinbo A. A. Cornerstone, Sunday Afolayan (ISPAN/Skannet), ‘Gbenga Sesan (:)), Ndukwe Kalu (ISPAN) and Chinenye Mba-Uzoukwu (Infographics). The last four declined the nominations for various reasons, and there was then no need for any form of voting.

NIRA now has its Board of Trustees, would be registered, and the .ng flag is about to rise high! The door will soon be flung open for membership and I’m sure qualified people are looking forward to that. Its another day in the history of Nigeria’s internet presence and participation, and I look forward to a great new day. Welcome, NIRA. Hello, world!

On the 2nd of April, I’ll be speaking at the April Business Meeting of Junior Chamber International - Nigeria’s Eko Chapter. I have decided to share thoughts with them on, The Blessing of Curses: Emergence of a New Generation of Leaders for the Nigerian Nation. I had prepared a few notes on this same topic for the March 11 Leadership Summit hosted by Fifth Gear Consulting but couldn’t be at the meeting. I have decided to build on the notes, and share the expanded thoughts at the business meeting. Nigeria is at a critical stage, and I’m sure that there are tons of questions on the minds of each Nigerian on the future of the nation.

Anyone who feels pain is still alive, and may in fact move on to become dissatisfied and ready for change. During the presentation, I will draw a parallel between blessings and curses — limits and opportunities. Considering such sub-topics such as “No Pain, You’re Dead!”, “Darkness is Not a Curse”, “Where are the Leaders?”, and “Genes or Jeans?”, I will discuss the amazing opportunities that are evident owing to the present level of decay within the Nigerian environment. Calling for a new generation of leaders who can take us to the “New Nigeria”, I will also discuss the most audible — yet silent — announcement of the day: “Vacancy! Vacancy!! Vacancy!!!” You will be introduced to “A New Economy” as I rely on years of national/regional/interntional ICT involvement opportunities to explain how Nigeria will move from the third world to the first. Moving the discussion from Nigeria (as it often is) to you, I will share thoughts on “Dream With Eyes Wide Open”, taking you through time-tested steps that have turned chaos and urgent needs into national reformation. From my personal archives, I will explain why I believe that Nigeria will be the most desirable nation by 2025 — and invite you to take action in order to be on the stage when the curtains are withdrawn.

For more details on the meeting (and to participate), please contact the training director of JCI-Nigeria, Eko Chapter: 0803 578 19 01 or jideadeyemi@gmail.com.

For the next few days, Nigerians are all involved in one project — the national census. By the end of the process, we should know exactly how many Nigerians live in Nigeria — 120 million? 150 million? Less? More? And as soon as that census exercise is over, another census (that will seek to consider how many Internet enthusiasts there are in Nigeria) will hold at the MUSON Center in Lagos. Just like the shame of not knowing how many of us there really are (to help effective planning), this digital census should help rid Nigeria of the shame that contention and slow-paced action around the .ng issue has brought. Listen to Financial Standard’s Chima Akwaja on the census — in his article titled, Stakeholders set to ratify Nigeria’s Internet body:

Stakeholders in the Internet community are set to ratify Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NIRA), the non-governmental organisation that would oversee the administration of the country code top level domain (ccTLD), Nigeria’s signature content on the internet. The first annual general meeting (AGM) would hold next week Tuesday in Lagos.

The process of handing over .ng was halted following the death of professor Gabriel Ajayi, former director-general of Nitda in December 2004. President Olusegun Obasanjo had mandated Nitda to ensure that technical and administrative management aspect of .ng are handled by a non-governmental organization. Mr. Randy Bush, an American, is still handling the technical point of contact.

So, stand up to be eCounted. See you at MUSON Center on Tuesday, March 28 2006.

The ICT Africa Investment Summit is an annual forum where African stakeholders in the ICT sector gather together to address issues that are critical to securing increased investments in the broadcasting, IT and telecommunications infrastructure – and service delivery – in Africa. The Summit also highlights the investment opportunities in the sector and identifies options for accelerated development of the ICT infrastructure in Africa.

For the year 2006 this event will be hosted by Rwanda in collaboration with Kemilinks International. The event which will be held in Kigali (Rwanda) from the 4th to the 6th of May 2006, at the Conference Centre of the Intercontinental Hotel will bring together African stakeholders in the ICT sector ranging from policy makers, regulators, operators, service providers, potential investors, financial institutions, consumers and others.

A major highlight of the 2006 edition of the summit is the Youth Forum. Youth and ICTs_Rwanda’s proposal for the youth forum within the main summit has been approved by the organizers, and Africa’s youth will participate under the umbrella of the ICT Africa Investment Summit Youth Caucus. Youth participation to the summit will be a new and challenging opportunity for this group of young professionals to bring to governments, private sector and donors their specific concerns and strategies for the establishment of sustainable infrastructure within the ICT sector in Africa – and how to improve the service delivery.

This is of benefit to all participants of the summit considering the position of youth in the current fabric of the society. Noting that the median age of the African population is less than 20 – and the fact that young people have unprecedented potentials in embracing ICTs, adapting them to their context and when possible inventing those technologies in order to create digital opportunities for all – the youth element of the summit is of major importance to organizers and participants.

If you are interested in participating in the Youth Forum, please download the guide here. We hope that the guide will help you take action at the national level as we prepare for the Youth Forum. You can also register on the mailing list of the ICT Africa Investment Summit Youth Caucus, at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ictisyouthafrica