Women and the girl child need 21st-century digital skills, whether they live in rural communities or in urban centers. Digital skills would equip the girl child to participate in a world increasingly turning to laptops, desktops, smartphones, and smart infrastructure. Indeed, these skills will add to the innate gifts she was endowed with, and crown her with a new inventive way of thinking.
Digital literacy
Today, people of different ages are also becoming more reliant on passwords, symbols, codes, and numerals than at any other time in the history of mankind. These are just some of the elements that make up the digital ecosystem.
This is the heart of the discussion that was held recently when Mr. Seyi Adeyemi, Vice President, Nigerian British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) paid a courtesy call on Mrs. Adedayo Benjamins-Laniyi, the pioneer Mandate Secretary, Women Affairs Secretariat of the FCT. Also present during the visit were Dr. Asmau Adamu and Dr. Mosunmola Abdulwaheed, both of the Women Affairs secretariat.
The team from the NBCC included Deborah Emmanuel, PR/Corporate Communications Manager, Skoolmedia/Edufirst, Moses Imayi, CEO/Founder Edufirst, Dr. Macjohn Nwabiala, Advisory Board Chairman, Edufirst and Chinyere Emeruwa, Assistant General Manager, Edufirst.
In his remarks, Seyi Adeyemi, who is also Chairman, of the Schools and Education Committee, Edufirst Nigeria, Ltd, spoke about the group’s forthcoming conference “We are here because of a common interest which is the upcoming edutech conference.”
Development of education
He explains “The Edutech conference is a conference that provides a platform where various players in government, corporate bodies, the international space, and technology, can come together, to articulate interests related to the development of education in Nigeria, from all the spheres.”
A focus on schools
According to him “We represent the sector or the group that focuses on schools and education. We are the education and schools group of the Nigeria British Chamber of commerce. In terms of membership there consists in that group various corporate bodies that are in the educational and technology space, one of which is Edufirst Nigeria limited, whose chairman and MD are here and other members of staff.”
He adds “Basically, I know that one of the things in the heart of mothers, or women, is the health and the education of their children. We believe that this is one area that will be of significant interest to you.”
African edutech confab
Adeyemi, who holds an MBA from Delta State University, opens up on the conference which will be its 6th edition “It is a conference that is pan-African. It is not limited to Nigeria. It is called the African Edutech Conference and we have had participation across the commonwealth over the years. We have received support and sponsorship and endorsement from various government bodies such as UBEC, NITDA, and a number of other organisations within government. We do have participation from both the public and the private sector in this conference.”
Change the mindset
“I feel at home here. I am excited and happy at the prominence presently being given by the FCT, when it comes to issues of women and children. In the past issues of women and children were viewed as not very important. They were viewed as if they are not very important, they were viewed as palliatives. Some of us have tried over the years to change this mindset,” says Macjohn Nwabiala, a retired permanent secretary.
Global conference
Benjamins-Laniyi, who has established herself as a ‘master of ceremony in Nigeria’, comments “We may call it a global conference, because whatever that is happening in Africa to deal with anything that is digital, or education, is immediately a global conference. The principal host is going to be UBEC and as we all know when we hear UBEC, it is serious business.”
‘Women are a project’
She provides a background to the establishment of her office “This secretariat was set up very intentionally by this administration of the FCT under Barrister Nyesom Wike on the 24 of October last year as a mandate for women project.”
According to her “He said women are a project and they need women to handle women’s matters. It cannot be subsumed under a social development profile. It must be given a very specific platform of engagement and administrative deliverables.”
Start ups impacting lives
Adeyemi sheds light on anticipated impacts of the conference “Maybe a tech start up has developed an app that can help manage some things relating to women and children in schools, out of school children and related issues. This is an educative forum where we can get things that can impact lives. Elevator pitches will be an opportunity for tech companies to briefly showcase the various digital capabilities that can be available.”
He states “We believe that will also be of interest to women, and we believe that in bringing this to you, it is something that will also be of interest to you, and we would be able to get the participation and the support which we believe will be part of the success of this conference. This basically is why we are here.”
3 day event
Chinyere Emeruwa, Assistant General Manager, Edufirst reveals“ The chairman has said its African. So far, Nigeria has been taking the lead but the intention is to take it wider than this, and we will also infuse the British elements into it. It’s a 3-day event from October 29th to 31st, scheduled to hold 10.00 am daily and will be hosted by our official host, the Universal Basic Education Commission UBEC.”
Global Impact
“The theme of the event is building an effective Edutech Ecosystem for global impact. It’s trying to get the edutech ecosystem scalable in a sustainable way, where we bring the government, the private sector, investors, professionals, and everyone playing in the space, to collaborate and have discourse, where we come out with possible outcomes that can revive our policies. This will make them available for every one of us, in Africa generally, and not just Nigeria. The objective of the conference is networking, policy advocacy, empowerment, global impact and general knowledge sharing,” she adds drawing attention to other aspects of the conference.
Innovations
Emeruwa recalls last year’s conference “Every year we have had students at the conference showcase their innovations. You will be amazed at the innovations of Nigerian students. Last year we ran it like a competition, and we got them to showcase their innovations, and we actually empowered one of them, that is the winning school. It’s actually Methodist girls high school in Lagos. We empowered them financially and also gave them tablets, each of the participating students.”
“There are a lot of innovations going on in Nigeria, and if we can harness this, the issues we are facing in the education sector and in other sectors, can become a thing of the past,” she emphasises.
Digital literacy, Digital dignity
Benjamins-Laniyi comments on changes that she initiated at the Women’s Affairs Secretariat “I have a department for digital innovation. I am setting it up not just for digital literacy but for digital dignity, even for older women to understand how to use their phones.” They need digital skills. We need to give education to their children for there to be true progress.
“If we truly want to help them we have to give education to their children. Digital capacity will delete all disability. They were excited,” she reveals, commenting on conditions she has witnessed in communities within the FCT.
What children are doing with phones
Benjamins-Laniyi, who has championed the cause of the girl child and women over the years, draws attention to a lingering issue “A lot more women need to understand how to use their phones, in terms of the value chain, whether you are a farmer, trader, a woman at home, you need to understand what your children are doing with their phones.”
‘Elite women’
She declares “Even the elite women who hold the most expensive phones, are the most illiterate when it comes to handling the phone.”
21st-century skills
Emeruwa highlights more points relating to the conference “Through our partnership with the federal ministry of education, we are currently in all the federal unity colleges in Nigeria. We set up technology hubs in these schools, and we equip both the teachers and the learners with 21st-century skills. We provide them with conducive facilities that encourage and inspires learning to go on. We have our own brand of laptops, desktops, and tablets. We also have applications, and software that we have developed. This includes our exams software which actually helps students to prepare for examinations.”
Later this year Abuja will host a 3-day conference attracting not just industry players but students too, and it will examine the nexus between technology, education, and development.
