In Imo State, a beautiful tech programme attracts a berating

I watched the Tech Walk in Imo State last week and was obviously elated as the mass of young people headed to the government house for a celebratory rendezvous with the Governor, Hope Uzodinma. My excitement derived from the fact that a seemingly young project which began about a year ago has gotten so much traction with the targeted population to the point that it is almost becoming a movement. A digital army is being created and the young men and women are only so proud and willing to wear the digital code as apparel.

I was privileged to see the concept papers for The Digital Imo Agenda and, at the time, one could only wish the young Commissioner, Dr Chimezie Paulinus Amadi, well in his efforts to introduce a new narrative to a state that was understandably deficit in public image.

Good ideas can be very commonplace sometimes, but planning and execution could be in the precincts of rocket science. The idea of The Digital Imo Agenda wasn’t new at all, much like what has been implemented in some other parts of the world, to give their youths a reason to live. Somebody needed to spin something new in a nation where university students could be at home for one year because government would not settle industrial dispute with the lecturers, where those who graduated have no jobs and have turned to weapons in the hands of manipulative politicians and, in fact, in an environment where being a young child growing up has become nearly a curse. A reasonable mind needed to give meaning to such young minds trampled into the ground by wicked hearts.

One of the primary pillars of The Digital Imo Agenda is the SkillUpImo Project which, in three years, is ambitiously aimed at training and equipping 300,000 people with digital skills and knowledge, get them off the streets to be more useful to themselves and the society.

Such youths will be trained in the fields of Computer Appreciation, Data Analytics, UI/UX, Web Design, Digital Marketing, Content creation, Phone Repairs, Video Editing, Programming and a host of other fields of digital appreciation. The graduates of such training will not only be able to function within our borders but will be knowledgeable enough to work remotely in other parts of the word.

The students are trained in Cohorts or tranches, if you prefer the latter word. Cohort One graduated 5,000 on February 22, 2023. Last week, September 27, 2023, to be precise, Cohort Two graduated a whopping 15, 000, bringing the total figures to 20, 000.
The programme isn’t doing badly at all.

Coming from a very poor background, I know the colour of hope. That very day, I could see hope walking on the streets of Imo as they marched towards the governor’s office.

TV images can also tell the story of hope which is in short supply in our nation as poverty bestrides the environment like a demonic colossus while the Naira cringes before other international currencies. Life is degraded so massively that only those with sincere relationship with the ordinary folks, can relate the horror story that life in Nigeria has become.

Then it happened. Governor Uzodinma, in a euphoric moment of political orgy, told his appreciatively delirious youths that jobs have been secured for as many as 4000 of them with the European Union, and then in Canada and other parts of the world. By

December he will enjoy the honour of handing out the appointment letters by himself. The politician in Uzodinman has spoken. The ecstasy at that moment was overwhelming in the extreme.

The young souls before him only hunger for the best and anything could stand for truth and the possible, especially if it is coming from a political leader.

But the world outside was aghast, unable to understand why the governor that should be the one creating jobs and retaining talents should be the one organizing their departure. I have watched on television the sandbagging and flagellation of the governor and my sympathy for him is slim, for the simple reason that I feel pained that such a beautiful moment has been drowned in an ill-timed political exhilaration.

Beyond that political ballyhoo, has the governor done well with The Digital Imo Agenda? Before providing an answer I want to ask another question, why is it difficult for our politicians to work quietly and let the results speak for them? Some other countries of the world allow the results to do the talking.

May 25, 1961, President J.F. Kennedy delivered his Man on the Moon speech at a joint session of the Congress, where he challenged his country to land a man on the moon within a decade. The idea was not the subject of politics. By July 20, 1969, after spending about $28bn ($283bn in today’s inflation) with over 400, 000 people working on the Apollo project, America’s Apollo 11 landed three men on the moon – Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin and Michael Collins.

Armstrong became the first man ever to walk on the moon. They left a message on the moon: ‘’Here men from planet Earth first set foot upon the moon. July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind.’’

At some point, China felt overlooked and underestimated by the rest of the world and went insular to build capacity and technology. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, China exhibited its wares to the rest of the world that has not stopped asking for more. China is antagonized for being a clear leader in 5G technology. This was not the subject of politics.

India contemplated the poverty of its people and decided to build a health sector that could take care of the ordinary folks. The country built up a modern health sector which could handle a major heart surgery for a cost less than $10, 000, and inadvertently built up a health tourism sector for the rest of the world. No politics. Perhaps our politicians could achieve more if they talk less.

But back to our question, has the governor done well with The Digital Imo Agenda? I will project answers in parables. The plan was to create a digital army from the hungry youthful population who would be challenged enough to use their talents to disrupt their local environment and create something for themselves and the rest of the world. The governor’s effort has attracted major industry players like Cisco, Huawei and Microsoft, including the National Examining Board for Technical Education (NABTEB) for certification and value optimization for its various programmes. In this respect, the governor has scored well.

Speaking at the graduation ceremony in Owerri, the Imo State capital, an obviously excited Bosun Tijani, Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy admonished the young tech graduates to hold on strongly to the value that has been added to their lives, saying: “Everywhere you look in the world, there is not enough technology talents. This shortage, I want to remind you is an opportunity for young Nigerians like yourselves to fill the gap, not only in Nigeria but also globally. To take up opportunities that are not only financially rewarding but opportunities that create lasting impact for the society.’’

The minister readily used the example of two young Nigerians who are doing great things for themselves and the tech ecosystem in general. A young man of seven years ago, Kenechukwu Udoeze, has become a lead designer of Icare in the Netherlands, while Inyioluwa Gboyeji who discovered the power of digital technology and digital skills, has featured in the heart of two major unicorns, Andela and Flutterwave. The two companies are worth over $5bn within ten years. Without doubt, the minister is in full support of what is happening in Imo State and has promised to work with the government.

In less than one year, the Imo State government has created a digital army of 20, 000 personnel. That is huge by any standard and should be critically appreciated beyond the appurtenances of politics. What is also very clear is that some of these young people could be global citizens in the months and years ahead based on what the state has bequeathed to them through SkillUpImo. These young people have something to brag about. They have skills. They have hope. And they now have a future.
The governor should allow them pursue their dreams and be cautious in flaunting figures that are doing great disservice to the great work he has done with The Digital Imo Agenda.